An Unlikely Truce
by SmileySloth
Summary: The turtles were enjoying a relaxing day of hanging out in the lair with April when things suddenly took a turn for the worst. Now, held prisoner by their arch enemy, Donnie is the only hope they have left. Can he save his family in time? (Set in the 2012 cartoon, before season 2)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing

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"I have three kings! Is that good?"

"Mikey, you have no idea how to play go fish, do you?" said Leo with a sigh, giving his younger brother an exasperated look.

"Well, I ain't complaining," said Raph, "Mikey – you got any kings?"

"Don't be mean, Raph," April scolded, "You can't take advantage of his lack of knowledge."

"Why not?" Leo asked, actually sounding perplexed.

"Because… because it's unfair!" April exclaimed. She glanced over to where Splinter was standing, a few feet away. "Back me up here please master Splinter!"

"April is right. It is unfair to take advantage of Michelangelo's lack of experience." Leo and Raaph bowed their heads and Splinter's words, feeling guilty. "And that is exactly why you should do it. Deal me a hand April."

"What?" April spluttered as Splinter came over, giving no sign that he was joking.

"In battle, a good warrior takes advantage of his enemy's weaknesses."

"This isn't battle, it's a card game!" protested April.

"True. But it's more fun this way."

"All right!" yelled Raph triumphantly.

"You're the best, Master Splinter," said Leo.

"I… have no idea what's going on…" Mikey said, sounding very confused. April decided that she had had enough of this. Passing her cards to Master Splinter, she went to go and see what Donnie was doing… and then realised she hadn't seen him all evening.

"Hey guys… where's Donnie?"

"No idea," said Raph, "Probably locked himself up in him lab or something."

"Hey that's right; I haven't seen him since this morning. He said he was going to set up surveillance cameras in the sewers as extra security – but that was hours ago. I wonder where he could have got to…" Leo trailed off and looked at April a little sheepishly, "I hadn't really noticed he was missing."

"Well maybe I'll go look for him."

"Aww, April's all worried about her _boyfriend,_" Mikey teased, "Raph, have you got any threes?"

"Dammit! I swear, you must be the luckiest guy alive! I thought you didn't know how to play this game?" Raph grumbled as he gave over his cards.

"I guess I'm just a natural." Mikey smirked. Raph growled in response but didn't say anything. Just then, Donnie came rushing into the lair carrying his laptop in one arm. He was out of breath and looked like he'd been running.

"Guys!" he exclaimed frantically and April was immediately on edge. The others didn't even look up from their game.

"We were just talking about you, Don. Where'd you get to?" Leo asked calmly.

"Never mind that, we have a serious problem!"

"What is it this time, Bucketbrain, one of you toy cameras break?" Raph said with a yawn.

"One of my cameras' picked up a group of men in the East sewer. I think there looking for us!" Donnie exclaimed. He rushed forward and shoved his laptop in Leo's face.

"Woah, slow down Donnie," Leo said, Donnie had everyone's attention now. Raph reached over and took the laptop to see what Don was talking about "How do you know there not just… tourists, or something?"

"Tourists? In the sewer? Since when is that likely?"

"Guys, I think Donnie's got a point," Raph was staring at the computer's screen in disbelief.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Leo sharply. Raph looked up with wide eyes and turned the laptop round so everybody could see the screen.

"It's the Shredder," he said.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Can't promise regular updates but I actually have some of this written so... here's chapter 2 :)

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The turtles, Splinter and April stared at the laptop in horrified silence for a long time. In one of the nearby tunnels stood their arch nemesis, calmly surveying his surroundings with a look of mild interest. His armour reflexed the tiny amount light present, giving it an evil gleam that highlighted the sharp points on his helmet and shoulders. Eventually Splinter came to his senses and began to take charge of the situation.

"My sons, it appears we are in grave danger."

"Not necessarily, Master Splinter," reasoned Leo quickly, "It's not hard to guess that we live in the sewers; maybe he's just doing a sweep search. There's nothing to say that he knows where the lair is." Just then a loud crash sounded from somewhere in the sewer tunnels.

"Er, that was the preliminary door being destroyed," Donnie said, causing the others to gasp in fear.

"You were saying, Fearless?" Raph muttered.

"Not now, Raphael!" snapped Splinter, "We must flee, and quickly."

"Why? We should stay and fight!" Raph flicked his wrists and spun his sai menacingly, but Splinter shook his head.

"No. We cannot win this fight."

"Master Splinter's right, Raph. We can't defeat the Shredder and the Foot and you know it. We've tried and failed before." Leo cut in, attempting to stop the argument before it had even begun. Raph sighed but nodded, putting his weapons away.

"So, what's the plan Fearless?" The others all turned to Leo for guidance. Another crash sounded and everybody flinched. April was shaking with terror.

"Secondary door," Donnie whispered, although it was unnecessary as everybody could guess what had happened.

"OK, here's the plan," Leo said decisively after a moment of consideration, "We split up and all take different routes. April, you go with Master Splinter and head for the north west pipe line. Raph, you take north east, Mikey will go south and Don goes west."

"What about you?" Mikey asked and Leo bit his lip.

"I'm going for the eastern tunnels," he replied quietly.

"But that's right into the Foot's ranks!" exclaimed Don, "It's too dangerous."

"If this is going to work, we'll need someone to distract them. That's my job."

"But…" Mikey persisted, but he was cut off by a third crash; much closer this time.

"There's no time to argue! Just go!" Leo shouted. He was relieved to see that his brothers offered no more arguments, instead heading off in the direction he'd told them – albeit reluctantly. Master Splinter ushered April in front of him and turned back to his eldest briefly.

"Good luck, Leonardo." Leo smiled grimly and turned to face his enemy head on.

The Shredder forced his way into the turtle's lair to find Leonardo waiting for him weapons drawn. Splinter was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is Splinter, turtle?" he demanded, "Tell me and your death will be swift."

"Sorry, no deal Shredder. I will defend Master Splinter until I die." Leo stood his ground and prepared to fight. The Shredder sighed.

"I don't have time for this." Before Leo could react, the Shredder threw a strange device at the turtle. The device attached itself to his chest with sharp claws and Leo felt an electric shock flow through him. He dropped his weapons and fell to the floor, completely defenceless. The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was the Shredder giving commands to his soldiers.

"Find them. But take them alive – I want the pleasure of killing them myself."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Not entirely happy with this chapter but I felt like I needed to have more Donnie. Hopefully the next update will be better. Please review and tell me how I can improve!

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The floor was cold and damp beneath his feet and Donnie almost slipped several times in his hurry to get away. Behind him he could hear the muted sound of foot soldiers in pursuit. He tried to ignore the thoughts running round his head that told him Leo was already dead. He couldn't believe that his leader would be that easily defeated even if he was massively outnumbered and outmatched.

He turned a corner sharply, ducking his head as he did so to avoid the low hanging pipe blocking his way. This was his home and he knew these sewers like the back of his hand, but the foot soldiers following him didn't have that same advantage. Sure enough, a few seconds later he heard a loud clunk and muffled swearing as some of the men ran full pelt into the metal pipe. Donnie suppressed a grin and kept running.

He couldn't be sure how many were following him, or even if they were all foot soldiers. He wasn't sure he was up for taking on a bunch of foot-bots on his own, even with the advantage of being in the sewers. So the best thing to do would be to get away and meet up with the others so they could regroup and plan what to do next. It was the logical decision. _Supposing of course, that there are any of them left to meet you with you, _a voice in his head said treacherously and Donnie clenched his fist with some emotion that wasn't quite anger, wasn't quite worry, but somewhere in between.

_They'll be fine, _he told himself, but he couldn't quite believe it. What hope did Leo have, on his own against the Shredder? The sword-wielding turtle was one of the best warriors Donnie had ever seen. He was quick and clever and prided himself on his level-head during combat – but even he couldn't hope to win against such and enemy. And what about Raph and Mikey? Master Splinter? And, come to think of it, April too? Donnie almost felt his heart stop as he thought about the feisty red-head who had fought her way into his heart so fast that he'd barely noticed what had happened. He couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to her. He could already feel his heart breaking and the thought of her hurt, her eyes glazed over and lifeless, her body cold and still beneath his hands… no. He didn't have time to think about this right now. He needed to concentrate on getting away.

It would be a risk-free bet to say that Raph wouldn't be doing the same thing. He could practically see the hot-headed turtle slowing to a stop a few metres down the pipe line, his anger and sense of honour not letting him keep running, and then him turning to face the enemy head on with a snarl on his face. He could have a chance as long as he wasn't overrun, but Donnie couldn't help the sinking feeling that he wouldn't make it.

Donnie wasn't the praying type, primarily because he didn't believe in God. He was a scientist and a rationalist and couldn't put his faith in something that he couldn't explain. But right then he prayed. He prayed that his brothers would be safe and would emerge mostly unscathed from this latest disaster. He prayed that the Shredder would fail once again and that his Master would remain the better of the two. He prayed that April would survive to be reunited with her father again. And most of all, he prayed that whatever happened his family would not be destroyed.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Massive thank you to anyone who's reviewed! You guys rock.

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Leonardo was surprised to find that he was still alive the next morning. He wasn't surprised, however, to find that he ached all over. He blinked and tried to lift his head, but his vision blurred at the sudden movement and he had to take a moment to compose himself.

Leo tried to move again, but found that he was chained to the wall by his wrists and the restraints dug into his skin. He gasped in pain.

"Looks like Fearless is finally waking up," said a voice to his left. Leo's heart sank at the words. He tried to turn his head to the source of the voice, but found it too painful.

"Raph…?" he croaked, his voice sounding sore. Raph snorted.

"Who else would it be?" he asked bitterly.

"You got captured too?"

"Yeah, and not just me. Mikey, April and Master Splinter are here too, but only Mikey's awake." Leo's heart ached painfully as Raph spoke, almost unable to believe the words.

"How you feeling, bro?" Mikey asked, but Leo decided to ignore the question; instead asking one of his own.

"April and Master Splinter got caught too?"

"Yeah."

"What about Don?"

"We haven't seen him," Mikey said quietly. Suddenly he whimpered. "You don't think the Shredder… got rid of him, do you?"

"I'll kill him if he has," threatened Raph with and growl. Leo frowned.

"I'm sure Donnie's fine, Mikey. Maybe he didn't get caught."

"I hope so. Then maybe we've got a chance of getting out of here." Mikey replied. Leo and Raph were surprised that Mikey was actually thinking rationally for once. Pressure does strange things to people.

"You know, I only got one question," said Raph.

"What's that?"

"If the Shredder's captured us – why aren't we dead yet?" Leo was annoyed at his brother's lack of tack, but that was a question that had been nagging him too.

"I guess we'll find out soon," he replied grimly.

Somewhere in Tokyo, Aguri Totsuka reread the email he'd just received in disbelief. He would have considered it a prank if it were not for the photos included. He'd had them double and triple checked – they were real. Aguri's hands shook with excitement – if Oroku had what he said he had… It was the scientific discovery of the decade, the century even! But then, Oroku Saki was not known for his trustworthiness… Aguri would have to make sure first.

He returned to his computer and quickly wrote a reply. He hit the send button before he could change he mind and immediately began to look for a flight to New York. He had to finish his work here first, but he could be out there in 5 weeks, maybe 4… Oh, if Oroku has what he says he has! He would be rich! A real life sentient mutant. More than one in fact! The possibilities were endless.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **So this chapter is a little rambling... not sure I'm completely happy about it. Please review!

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Hours of fruitlessly searching the streets where his brothers should have come up and still Donatello had found no sign of them. He was close to tears by this point. Maybe he'd have to admit that this time they weren't going to be ok. He wanted to know what had happened to them but was too scared to re-enter the sewers in case the foot were still down there. It had taken him long enough to lose them last time and he wasn't sure he could do it again. So that left him alone, with nothing to go on, and not even the beginnings of a plan on how to make this right.

Donnie wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and stay hidden until everything had gone back to normal. But that wasn't an option. He had to stay strong for his brothers, and for April. Whatever had happened it was up to him to find out the truth. Of course, before that there was still the task of telling Mr O'Neil that his daughter was missing. If Don got out of that meeting alive then maybe he could work on getting his brothers back.

He crept through the shadows towards April's house, always cautious but even more so tonight. The lights in the apartment were on and Donnie could hear the radio being played from the kitchen. He knew that it was way past April's curfew and Mr O'Neil was probably going out his mind with worry. Donnie was only sorry that he couldn't easy those worries, that he could only make them worse.

Don knocked quietly on the door and it flew open straight away as if April's dad had been standing right by it in expectation. The look of fury on the man's face quickly turned to fear as he saw Donatello alone on his doorstep looking as if something was terribly wrong. Without a word he ushered the turtle inside and closed the door behind them, creating a barrier to keep the rest of the world out.

"What happen?" he asked as soon as they were safely locked away. Don looked at him mournfully.

"We were attacked. The foot found the lair… I don't know how… We were completely outnumbered."

"Where's April?"

"I…"

"Donatello," Mr O'Neil said sharply, "Where is my daughter?"

"I don't know! I think the Shredder has her. We split up and now everyone else has disappeared and I have no idea what happened to them." As he spoke, Donnie felt a few tears roll down his checks and he rubbed at them furiously, feeling completely pathetic. The blood drained from Mr O'Neil's face and he sank slowly into a nearby dining chair.

"She's… gone?" he asked quietly and Donnie could only nod in reply. For several minutes neither of them said anything, lost in their own despair. Outside the night was dark and cold, the kind of night that you wouldn't want to be out alone in, but if Donnie was honest he'd rather be out there were he could run off his guilt than in here with the father of the girl he'd failed.

"What are we going to do?" asked Mr O'Neil, finally breaking the silence. He didn't sound angry, which Donnie had been expecting, he simply sounded… empty. In many ways that was worse.

The truth was, Donnie didn't know what they were going to do. He literally had no idea where to go from here. It was funny really – he prided himself on being the intelligent one but it seemed like he was the worse when it came to actually thinking. Give him a broken computer and he'd have it fixed in a day but ask him anything practical, how to infiltrate an enemy base, how to take down a difficult enemy, and he was completely at a loss. He'd proven that before, hadn't he? That whole incident with him and Mikey being called the B-team. A million different ideas, each more ludicrous than the last.

Leo was the one who came up with the plans, who could think clearly even when stressed, who kept that whole team together. He knew that if it was Leo here not him then the other turtle would already be outlying a plan. Leo would know exactly what needed to be done and how to do it. And Raph of course, maybe not so much a planner, but certainly not one for sitting around moping. Raph would probably have got to them already. He had a habit of rushing straight in with no clear heading and somehow coming out the other end. Even Mikey would give it a good go. Optimistic to the last and hyperactive at the best of times, Mikey wouldn't be able to rest until he'd done something and even if he didn't quite get it right, Don was willing to bet that in the end it would work out for him. Anyone of them in his situation would be able to do something.

But none of them were here. Donnie was on his own and as he looked at the man who was asking for his guidance, something clicked inside him. It was down to him now and he had to do _something. _He turned to look at the city, his eyes falling on a dumpster at the end of the street and the beginnings of a smile forming on his face.

"Don't worry Mr O'Neil. I have a plan."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** I needed to introduce Karai somehow, hence the rather random nature of this chapter...

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A lone figure raced across the New York roofs, keeping to the shadows. Occasionally it would pause as if checking to see if it was being followed. Keeping low to the roof, the figure moved swiftly, completely comfortable in the urban environment. And suddenly the figure stopped. If anyone had been watching, they would have seen the shadow leap from the roof of one of the buildings onto the top windowsill and quickly enter through the window. But on that night nobody was watching.

Inside the building, the man simply known as Teacher sat with his back to the window. He stiffened as he felt a presence enter the room but after a moment relaxed again as if he had recognised the intruder. The other person in the room moved forward and bowed respectively in front of him.

"Teacher," the ninja greeted. Teacher turned slightly to look at his young visitor and smiled warmly.

"Karai. It has been too long."

"For that I am sorry, Teacher," said Karai, "My father forbade me from coming to see you."

"And yet… you are here."

"Yes. I need your help."

"Perhaps you do. Or perhaps not," said Teacher slowly, "Perhaps you wish to trap me or coerce me into joining the Foot." Karai's head snapped up, her face stricken.

"No! I would never betray you!" she insisted. Teacher seemed almost amused by her comments but merely nodded his head in agreement.

"I trust you. But I wonder, how many of those you once called 'friend' are still willingly to say the same? I sense you are here about the turtles, Karai," Teacher's voice was suddenly stern, "I have told you before that you cannot play them as you do. You must be sure of where your loyalties lie."

"I am, Teacher… or at least I was," Karai explained hesitantly, "Leonardo betrayed me and that hurt. I was convinced then that I was loyal only to my father. But…"

"You still care for Leonardo," stated Teacher with unnerving certainty.

"Yes. I'm not in love with him of anything, but I do like him. I think the Shredder has gone too far. I'm not sure if I can stand by and let him do as he has planned."

"Then do not. Fight against what you think is wrong."

"It's not that simple!" exclaimed Karai, "He's my father!" Teacher sighed and looked past Karai into the night sky.

"What is it that you want to ask me, Karai?" Karai hesitated and chose her next words carefully.

"If you have an enemy – someone who has wronged you greatly – do you have the right to punish them however you see fit? Even if your punishment may seem inhumane, like torture or… dissection?"

"Rights?" said Teacher incredulously, "Do not talk to me of rights. What right has any man to judge another? To say what their punishment should be? None! No, you do not talk of rights. Whether or not you are _able _to punish another for their crimes is another matter. And that is reliant on your own conscience."

"What do you mean?" asked Karai, confused.

"You must decide whether you are able to watch the turtles and their master be punished as the Shredder has planned. You must decide if you conscience allows it."

"What is the right thing to do?"

"Whatever your conscience tells you." Karai considered his words carefully. He was right of course – this was her decision and whatever she chose she would have to live with for the rest of her life. Eventually she nodded.

"Thank you, Teacher, you always give good advice." Teacher nodded in response and Karai left the room the same way she had entered it, disappearing into the dark.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **It's been ages since I last updated! Sorry about that. Huge thanks to anyone who's reading this, I'll try to update more frequencly from now on. The next few chapters might sem a bit odd, but don't worry we will go back an explain what Donnie's been doing!

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Mikey wasn't sure how long it had been. At least a week, he reckoned, but probably longer. The Shredder had been remarkably absent during the time they had been imprisoned here and it worried Mikey to not know what he was planning. He was also worried that if they didn't get out of here soon Raph would do something drastic. He elder brother was looking almost murderous. And there was still no sign of Donnie.

Mikey glanced at April and sighed. April was just a normal teenaged girl – not trained since birth like him and his brothers were. He felt incredibly guilty for involving her in their problems and getting her captured when she had done nothing to the Shredder personally. When she'd first woken up she'd been strangely positive and upbeat but now she barely said a word. He twisted his body so he could see her better.

"Hey, April, how are you feeling?" he asked softly. She raised her head and looked back at him with lifeless eyes. Mikey was tempted to look away just so he didn't have to look at those eyes, but he met her gaze reassuringly.

"About as good as I could be," she replied. Raph looked up at the sound of her voice and scowled. Mikey sensed danger and willed Leo to intervene before Raph had a chance to say something he'd later regret.

"Stop feeling so sorry for yourself!" Too late, Raph had already proven just how unsympathetic he could be, "The Shredder doesn't even care about you, and he'll probably let you go. We're the ones who have to worry."

"Raphael!" shouted Leo and Master Splinter simultaneously. April didn't respond; she looked like she hadn't even heard. Raph merely grunted in response. Surprisingly, Leo left it at that and they all fell into silence once more.

Their silence was broken by the sound of the heavy metal door being opened. Mikey snapped his head up in shock, and irrationally expected to find Donnie on the other side. Instead they were met with the Shedder, Dogpound close at his heels. At least they would finally find out what was going on, thought Mikey gloomily.

"Let us go!" Raph snarled, straining his arms against the chains in an attempt to launch himself at the man. The Shedder didn't even glance at him, instead coming to a stop in front of Master Splinter. An evil glint came into his eyes.

"My old enemy, finally helpless," he boasted, "After all these years you were so easy to defeat – it's almost disappointing."

"Do whatever you want with me, Saki, but let the others go." The Shredder's face twisted at the mention of his real name and his hand snapped out to curl around Splinter's neck. Cries of outrage sounded from the turtles.

"You don't get it, do you? It's not only about you anymore. Your mutants have wronged me also."

"Then what are you planning to do?" asked Splinter calmly. Shredder smirked and slowly withdrew his hand from around the rat's neck.

"I was going to just kill you. That would have satisfied my need for revenge. But then I thought of something better. A friend of mine, a doctor back in Japan, has been looking into unusual phenomena for quite some time. He seemed quite excited when I told him I had discovered some real life mutants. He offered me a rather large sum of money to take them off my hands. Seemed to think they'd be useful for some… experiments he wants to run." The turtles and Master Splinter visibly paled and Shredder smiled in satisfaction.

"You… can't do that!" exclaimed Leo, "It's barbaric!" The Shredder waved his hand dismissively.

"What about April?" said Mikey suddenly, "I mean, I know why you want us, but April hasn't done anything to you. Why not let her go?"

The Shredder turned to him in mild surprise.

"They said you were the stupid one," he commented blandly, "But that actually wasn't a stupid question. And you're right; the girl hasn't done anything to me. She's my insurance. As long as she's here all of you will behave – otherwise she's in trouble."

"And afterwards?" Splinter asked, "What happens to her then?"

"I'm sure her family will be eager for her return – perhaps they'll even provide me with money as a reward. You would like to go home, wouldn't you my dear?" April raised her head and glared at the man. Mikey was relieved to see that she hadn't lost all of her fire.

"You're despicable," she spat, "You'll never get away with this!"

"Language," warned Shredder with a chuckle, "You don't want to get on my bad side." He turned to leave but was stopped by Raph.

"What about Donnie? Where's out brother?!" he shouted.

"The purple-masked turtle? I don't actually know. I was going to let you think he was dead, but this is better I think…" He faced them once more and Mikey was scared by the dark humour in his eyes. "He's not here. It's been almost two weeks and he's still not here. How does it feel knowing that your brother has abandoned you?"

With that, the villain swept from the room leaving the prisoners alone with their thoughts once more.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: **well, it's been even longer since my last update... sorry about that. I promise I haven't abandoned the story, just had major writer's block recently. On with the story!

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The Shredder read the email from Doctor Aguri for one final time and allowed himself to smile. Everything was finally falling into place. The man promised to be in New York in the morning and soon Splinter and those infernal turtles would be out of his way for good. The Shredder felt a pang of regret at not being able to deal with Splinter personally but quickly rationalised that this way was better. He'd been assured that the experiments would be quite… painful.

"Sir?" a voice spoke up tentatively.

"Yes?" the Shredder snapped, irritated to have his thoughts interrupted. He turned to find one of the technicians standing in front of him timidly. "What is it?"

"It might be nothing sir!" the man said hurriedly, "But we got some strange power signals that I don't quite understand…"

Before the man could continue a screeching alarm filled the room. Even the Shredder flinched at the sudden loud noise – although he would never admit it. One of his foot ninja hurried into the room and came to a stop in front of him.

"Sir, it's the purple-masked turtle," the ninja gasped, clearly out of breath.

"What do you mean?"

"He's here sir! He broke into the building and attacked the guards on the lower levels. What do you want us to do?" The Shredder smiled. Finally the last piece of the set had showed up. Now he could have some fun…

"Let him in. I want to deal with him myself."

Nearly a month. That was how long they had been the Shredder's prisoner, and there was still no hope of escape. Raphael was fuming with an anger that threatened to burst out of him at any moment. He wasn't sure who he was angry with any more. Himself for getting captured? Leo for failing to come up with an escape plan? Donnie for not coming to rescue them? He was angry with the Shredder, certainly. He wanted to punch that man so much that it actually hurt. But he couldn't because he was a prisoner, chained to the wall and unable to do anything. The others, even Mikey, had plunged into despair after so many days of being locked up. There was nothing they could do and they knew it.

Suddenly an alarm sounded somewhere else in the building. Raph immediately perked up.

"What do you think's going on?" he asked.

"Dunno," Leo replied and then he grinned, "But whatever's bad for the Shredder is good for us!"

"My thoughts exactly."

"Do you think it's Donnie?" asked Mikey excitedly and Raph was glad to see him acting like his old self again. Before anyone could reply the computer screen in their cell crackled into life and the face of the Shredder appeared upon it.

_"Yes, turtle, your brother is finally here," _he said with a tone of dark humour. Raph's high spirits immediately fell, _"I preparing a welcome for him as we speak."_

"What are you planning?" Leo demanded, but their enemy merely laughed.

_"You'll see soon enough. Enjoy the show." _With that his face disappeared to be replaced with the video footage from one of the corridors. The prisoners could see Donatello, his signature Bo-staff swinging, making his way along the corridor with a look of determination on his face.

"It's Donnie!" exclaimed Mikey with happiness. Raph rolled his eyes at his brother's need to point out the obvious, but didn't say anything. He was too relived to see their missing brother to make fun of Mikey right now.

"What's he doing?" April muttered suddenly, "He can't hope to defeat the Shredder on his own."

"I hope you know what you are doing, my son," put in Splinter, the worry clear in his voice. Raph felt his spirits sinking even further any hope of rescue now almost completely destroyed. They could only watch as their brother ran into whatever trap the Shredder had prepared for him.


	9. Chapter 9

Donatello swung his staff once more and sent the final foot ninja flying. The ninja landed on his back, hitting his head and didn't get up. Donnie didn't waste time checking to see if he was alright. As he made his way through the corridors of Shredder's stronghold, he couldn't help but feel that everything had been a little too easy. He'd heard the alarms as he'd first entered but now everything was eerily calm– almost as if they were letting him through… Well they'd regret that decision. People should really know better than to underestimate him.

Glancing up his sharp eyes quickly picked up the security cameras placed at regular intervals along the wall. He resisted the urge to smirk. Surely it was obvious that he wanted to be seen? It would be ridiculously easy to sneak passed those cameras and avoid detection – but that wasn't the plan. And if he wanted to save his family he had to stick to the plan.

He moved with practised ease, the route to the main control room memorised after several hours of pouring over room layouts and sheets of information. He began to feel nervous. What would be waiting for him when he reached his destination? He was sure that the Shredder would be there, but whom else? Dogpound and Fishface could cause a problem if they realised something was off… Donatello banished the doubts from his mind. He'd gone over this. Nothing could go wrong.

Finally he reached the entrance to the control room and had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at the gigantic elaborate door that blocked his path. Really though, a small non-descript door would be much more practical. It would be easier to reinforce and wouldn't attract too much attention. Using an eight foot tall monstrosity with ornate patterns of black and red was practically the same as installing a neon sign with the words: _this room is important, attack here_. Donatello was happy to oblige.

He slammed into the door with his foot sending it crashing open with a bang. As he exploded into the room with what he considered to be quite an entrance, he was disappointed to find the Shedder sitting in front of him seemingly unimpressed, if not to say bored. Standing either side of him and leering at the turtle evilly were Dogpound and Fishface, flanked by a large number of foot clan ninja. Donatello didn't even spare them a glance. He stalked forward until he was standing directly in front of the Shredder and glared up at his enemy. He was literally shaking with anger. There was nothing he wanted more than to cause this man incomprehensible amounts of pain for what he had done to his family. Somehow the purple-clad ninja held himself back.

"Hello, turtle," said the Shredder in a bored tone, "Your name is… Donatello, I believe."

"That is correct," Donatello replied. He was tense and ready for action but wanted to wait for the Shredder to make the first move. He enemy looked at him and although Donnie couldn't see his face he knew that the Shredder was laughing at him silently.

"Have you come to join your family? I'm sure they would be eager to see you again," the Shredder's voice was mocking. Donnie clenched his teeth.

"Let them go," he growled.

"Or what? Really, Donatello, is that all you came here to say? 'Let them go'?" the Shredder laughed harshly, "Almost a month they've been in my care and that is all you could think of? Were you honestly expecting me to just agree? Good lord, if you're their last hope then I actually fell sorry for them."

"I warning you, Shredder," Donnie continued, unperturbed, "You do not want to provoke me right now."

"What are you going to do? The only reason you're not already dead is because of my orders. You're alone, helpless. You pose no threat."

"If that's the case, then why are we standing here just talking? Fight me, you coward!"

"Well you're brave, I'll give you that," said the Shredder sounding amused, "Braver than that O'Neil girl at any rate. And braver than the orange turtle too. You should have heard him cry when I first brought them in…"

Donnie cut him off with a loud growl and took a threatening step forward.

"If you've hurt any of them, I swear…"

"Why should you care?" snapped the Shredder, "You're the one who left them to be for four weeks. You're the one who betrayed them."

"Shut up!" Donnie yelled, his face livid, "Stop it! I've had enough of talking, I want to fight. That's what I came here for. Fight me!" He emphasised his last words by swinging his staff forcefully in front of him. The Shredder observed him coolly but made no move to attack. "Unless you're afraid!"

The Shredder sighed and slowly stood up, "Very well. If that is what you wish. But I have to say I'm disappointed. You're making it far too easy for me."

The armoured man and the purple-clad turtle stood face to face, weapons drawn, seizing each other up. As the Shredder moved to finally attack, Donnie let himself smirk. Everything was going to plan.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: **I'm actually quite pleased with this chapter, I think it came out quite well... Donnie's plan is still a mystery though, because I'm just that evil.

* * *

From their cell in the dungeon, the turtles watched their brother with growing despair. Raph had tears of frustration in his eyes as he stood unable to do anything while his younger brother engaged in a fight that he couldn't possibly win.

"I don't understand," Leo kept saying, throughout the whole exchange, "This isn't like Donnie. It's not like Donnie at all!"

"I agree, Leonardo," Splinter replied gravely, "This is most unlike Donatello. It appears that he had grown desperate."

"Maybe he has a plan," piped up Mikey, "Maybe we just can't see it yet."

"I don't think so, Mikey," said April gently, "He's on his own. Any plan he might have would have to be carried out by him, and we can see him there, fighting the Shredder."

"Well ain't you a little ray of sunshine," Raph growled under his breath, but nobody seemed to hear him. On the screen, the Shredder lashed out suddenly, sending Donnie crashing into the wall. The observers took a collective breath and April closed her eyes, unable to watch.

As Don staggered to his feet after the fifth time of being thrown into the wall, a resigned sense of foreboding fell upon his family. He was visibly tiring, his movements becoming sluggish and ineffective. The Shredder moved slowly towards him, hands raised. Don took a swipe at his head but the taller man blocked the attack, snatching the bo from his hands. With one fluid motion, he threw the turtle's weapon away and pinned him against the wall with a sword pressed to his throat.

"Donnie!" Mikey screamed and Raph fought against his restraints, wanting to get to his brother and help. Leo watched the scene with a look of resignation on his face. Their last hope was disappearing right before their eyes and there was nothing they could do about it.

"We must remain calm," Master Splinter told them, "Panicking will help no-one."

"No offense, Master Splinter," Raph replied, "But how are we meant to watch this and remain calm? Our brother is in trouble, and we're all going to suffer if he doesn't manage to get us out."

"Something will present itself. A good warrior is patient and does not act rashly. He waits for an opening to present-"

"Now's not really the time!" shrieked April, promptly cutting him off. The others turned their attention on her in shocked silence, but she didn't say anything more. Instead she slumped uselessly against the wall and began to sob, no longer able to hold back the feelings of complete and utter desperation.

On screen, Shredder had forced Donnie to his knees. The turtle certainly looked a little worse for wear; his face and body was covered in cuts and bruises and he was breathing heavily as if he had just run a marathon. His head was bowed and he held his purple mask clenched in one hand, the Shredder having cut it off some time in the fight.

"What do you think is going to happen to him?" Mikey whispered, his eyes fixed on Donnie. The others didn't reply. The only thing they could do, the only thing they had ever been able to do, was watch and wait to see what the Shredder decided.

_"You seem a little out of practise," _the man teased, and Don's shoulders visibly tensed, _"Or maybe you were just rubbish to begin with. No matter, it's over now. But don't worry – I'm not going to kill you. You can join your brothers in the dungeon." _Don didn't seem to react to the Shredder's words. He simply continued to stare at the ground resolutely. Behind him, Dogpound scowled.

_"Didn't you hear the Master?" _he asked angrily, "_You will pay attention when he talks to you, vermin!" _Dogpound moved as if the strike Donnie but the Shredder held up his hand to stop him.

_"Enough! You are not part of this conversation!" _At his Master's reprimand, Dogpound bowed his head and backed off, muttering an apology. The Shredder turned his attention back to Donatello once again. _"It really is quite pathetic. To think, all this time I've spent trying to take down that sad old rat and all it took in the end was a thermal energy scanner and a lucky guess from one of my interns. What a waste of time I've spent looking for you! And here, you come in with next to no plan and a length of wood against me? I can't believe I ever considered any of you a threat."_

The Shredder turned away from Donatello and waved his hand vaguely in the direction of some of the foot soldiers, indicating that they should take him away. Before he'd taken more than two steps, one of the counsels on the other side of the control room began to emit a loud beeping sound.

_"What the…?"_ He asked, spinning towards the direction the sound was coming from. In the cells, the turtles exchanged confused glances. As they looked up again, they saw that Donatello was looking right into the camera, a secretive smile on his face.

_"Oh come on," _he said, _"You didn't _really _think that was all I had, did you?"_


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: **I have a feeling that people are going to be very annoyed with me after this chapter. I left last chapter on a cliffhanger, which I am not going to explain for a while as I need to go back and tell you what Donnie's been doing for the last month. This chapter is very exposition-y and I'm not entirely pleased with it, but it is necessary to introduce my OCs... stick with me and I promise we'll get back to the action eventually! Thanks again to everyone who's reading/reviewing!

* * *

_A few weeks ago..._

Not many people could say that the dump was a fun place to visit. It was dirty, smelled terrible and rats and other vermin scurried all over the place as if they owned it. But they do say that one man's trash is another man's treasure and some of the things that people threw out were extraordinary. If you knew what you were doing you could make almost anything from the scraps found in the dump. Although whether the two teens who were scouring the dump that night knew what they were doing would be difficult to say. They stood a few feet apart gazing rather listlessly at the rubbish surrounding them. The taller of the two, a young male, prized a piece of complicated looking circuit board from the pile of rubbish nearest to him and offered it to his companion. She examined it for a moment and then slowly shook her head. The boy returned it to the pile with a sigh.

"Maybe we should call it a night," the girl whispered, looking around rather hopelessly, "There doesn't seem to be anything here."

"I guess you're right," her friend replied after a moment. He moved to collect the worn satchel they'd left nearby to place their findings in when a sudden movement caught his eye. He froze and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. "Cate!" he hissed urgently, "I think there's someone here!" The girl widened her eyes and automatically retreated slightly into the shadows looking around wildly.

"Where?!"

"Here," a voice replied. The owner of the voice stepped into the light so that the teens could see him more clearly. As they recognised him, they visibly relaxed.

"Donnie!" Caitlin squealed, flinging her arms around the turtle. Donatello didn't react straight away, standing stiffly upright and not moving to embrace the excited girl. She pulled back, immediately sensing something was wrong. "What's going on?" Donnie shook his head, not able to meet the girl's eyes. He suddenly felt incredibly drained. Caitlin squeezed his shoulders tightly in concern but he looked past her to the older teen who was watching the exchange with troubled eyes.

"Darren. I need your help."

Darren Watkins and his younger sister, Caitlin, had been perfectly normal children. Caitlin was the prim and proper teacher's pet who couldn't put a foot wrong and Darren was the headstrong football fan with a talent for the guitar. They had two loving parents and a stable home, the whole deal with a white picket fence and everything. And then their parents had died.

They'd been shuffled around different foster families for a couple of years, thankfully always staying together. Somewhere along the way, Caitlin went from studious to withdrawn, retreating further and further back into her school work until it became her entire personality and taking up an interest in computer coding because it allowed her to completely immerse herself in a world of binary and HTML. Darren changed as well. He was no longer the cheeky young boy he'd once been – now he was a rebellious teenager; sullen and unresponsive. All of his earlier hobbies – the football, the guitar – were pushed aside as he strove to be mature and independent. The only constant they had in life was each other so, obviously, they drifted apart until they barely spoke to each other, content instead to be miserable.

Their world was turned around once again be the arrival of some luminous green liquid that Caitlin chanced upon late one afternoon. Darren came home to find his sister literally growing claws and knew they had to leave. They ran, finding a home eventually on the streets of New York where Caitlin could hide her newly mutated body and a 16-year-old and his younger sister could pass unnoticed. They never worked out what happened to Caitlin. All they knew was that something in the goo had changed her so her skin was covered in fur and her eyes were wide and yellow. She looked rather like the cat that their then foster parents had kept – a fierce, confident little thing that Caitlin had loved and often missed.

So they made a life for themselves, finding food wherever they could and sleeping wherever there was room. They became siblings again, finally finding solace in the other and allowing the wounds caused by their parents' death to start healing. Neither of them thought they'd ever find anyone like Caitlin, which was why it came as a surprise when they met Donatello.

Life on the streets was never particularly safe and one night they were attacked by a group of thugs calling themselves the Purple Dragons. Darren had stood in front of his sister, partly to protect her and partly to hide her appearance, but both had been terrified. And then, out of nowhere, a dark shape had swooped down and barrelled right into the thugs sending them packing. Once they were gone their saviour turned back to Darren and Caitlin sticking to the shadows.

"Er… right… are you ok?" he asked hesitantly, "Have you been… Oh." The stranger trailed off in shock. Suddenly Darren realised that he was no longer shielding Caitlin from view and her cat-like mutation could be plainly seen. He cursed and pulled her more firmly behind her.

"Go away!" he hissed, hoping he sounded threatening but the stranger didn't move.

"Look, it's alright…"

"No! Leave us alone!"

"Wait!" The stranger lurched forward suddenly and Darren braced himself for a fight, only to be completely shocked when the stranger came into the light. It was a turtle. A human-sized, talking, _mutant _turtle, who also happened to be wearing the most ridiculous outfit Darren had ever seen, complete with a large wooden stick that he seemed to be wielding as some kind of weapon. "See, I'm just like you."

"No kidding, mate," Darren replied in awe. Caitlin immediately pushed past him to stand in front of the turtle and gaped at him.

"You're a mutant too? I didn't think there was anyone like me in the whole world!"

"Yep, me and my brothers…"

"There are more of you!?" Caitlin interrupted in an excited voice, "Other mutants?"

"I have three brothers," the turtle replied, "And a father, although he's a rat not a turtle like me. I'm Donatello."

"I'm Caitlin, and this is my brother Darren." Darren scowled at her and stepped forward to once again place himself in between his sister and the potential threat.

"No offense or anything, but we have absolutely no reason to trust you. So I think we'll be on our way now, if that's ok with you."

"Darren! He's just like me. We can't just leave! He could tell us why I'm like this and what's going on in this city." Caitlin protested clinging to her brother's arm as if her life depended on it. Donatello tilted his head slightly at her words as if he was thinking.

"You mean about mutagoen and the Kraang?" he asked and Caitlin and Darren exchanged glances. After a moment they nodded and Donatello had launched into a brief explanation of everything her knew about the alien creatures that looked like brains and travelled around in human shaped transport. As the turtle spoke, Darren found himself relaxing and by the time he'd finished Darren was feeling a lot more trusting towards Donatello, but he still didn't trust him completely.

In the end they took Donatello back to the makeshift home that they had created by the local dump and told him exactly what had happened to bring them to the New York streets. Donatello wanted to go straight home and tell his family about the new mutant that he'd discovered but Darren was still afraid of discovery so made him swear not to tell anyone about them. Eventually Donatello agreed to keep them a secret until they were ready to reveal themselves and left them to it.

That had been months ago. Since then, the brother and sister had become close friends with the slightly-geeky turtle. He had helped them improve the security of their 'home' so they were protected from the unsavoury characters of the night and showed them ways that they could find food and other things to help them survive. He never pushed them to reveal their existence to anyone, despite the fact that it was clear he was unhappy keeping it a secret. So when their friend came to them asking for help, there was no question that they would do whatever they could.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: **Sorry I haven't updated in ages! To make up for it I return to Karai, who really hasn't been in this fic enough.

* * *

Karai was pacing. Her conversation with Teacher was running round and round in her head and starting to make her dizzy. Just a few floors below her, the turtles were chained in the dungeon but she had no idea how she felt about that. She didn't know how she was _meant _to feel. Her dad hadn't even told her of his plans to capture the turtles. The first she'd known of it had been when he'd shown up triumphantly proclaiming his victory… over a bunch of teenagers. It was sad actually. Leonardo and his brothers were barely more than children and yet the Shredder had seemed so _proud _of himself for defeating them. He'd strutted around their home like some kind of very large, very dangerous peacock. Karai had almost spoken out. Only the thought of her mother held her back.

_But Leonardo didn't do anything to your mother, _her mind whispered treacherously. And that was the problem wasn't it? Her father had told her that he was getting revenge on Splinter for the death of her mother and yet she couldn't see any vengeance or anger in his actions. He was _gleeful_. Where was his grief for the love of his life in all this revenge? And why did he have to bring the turtles into this fight when they hadn't actually done anything to him? Karai had been angry with them; furious even. They'd _betrayed _her! Gone behind her back and tried to hurt her father. But it was kind of hard to stay angry with someone when you also felt sorry for them, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for them right at this moment.

She groaned and sat down heavily on her bed, holding her head in her hands. She had to do something. She kept thinking about the turtles. She remembered Leonardo, awkward and stuttering when they first met, but his hand sure on his katana and his stance steady and practised. She'd seen something of herself in him and it had shocked her. A mutant turtle and she couldn't help but feel that they were the _same_. She'd felt a connection with him from the moment she'd seen him and however much she tried to ignore it, it was always there in a corner of her mind. The others had seemed familiar as well, although the mistrust she'd seen in their eyes and scared her away. Leonardo trusted her. He saw something in her that she was sure she even saw in herself. He thought she had _honour. _But she could see no honour in this.

"Karai." Her father's voice startled her out of her musings and she involuntarily gasped, her head snapping up to find the man stood right in front of her. His fists were clenched, and it occurred to her that she should have noticed his entrance, that her apparent ignoring of his presence had angered him. She felt her heart race with a not completely unfounded fear. Her father had never raised a hand against her, but the Shredder was a violent man. And there were always other ways to punish her.

"Father," she replied, making sure that her voice didn't break or waver. He stared at her with cold eyes, his face unreadable.

"Do not think your movements go unnoticed, daughter, you left the house earlier. Where did you go?"

"N-nowhere."

"That is hardly an acceptable answer," the Shredder hissed, taking another step towards her menacingly. Karai flinched. The sudden movement seemed to shock her father who blinked rapidly. His face cleared of anger and instead he looked… stricken. "I wasn't…" He cleared his throat, looked away. "Very well, if you do not wish to discuss it, I will not push the issue. I have noticed however that the news of the turtle's capture has not pleased you. In fact you appear to be… brooding."

"I am not displeased, father." Karai said carefully. She was shocked and a little confused that her father had dropped the question of her night-time adventure so easily but she wasn't going to push the issue.

"Indeed? Then why are you acting as if someone has stolen your favourite sword?" Karai couldn't help the rueful smile that played on her lips.

"If someone stole my favourite sword I wouldn't waste time moping about it. I would go and find the thief and make sure he regretted making me angry." He father returned her smile briefly, swiftly covering up any hint of emotion beneath his mask of indifference.

"Granted. What is the matter then?" Karai took a deep breath. She had to do this. Experimenting on someone was just _wrong_, even if they were a mutant who had killed your wife. Surely he had to see that.

"I just wonder… do you have to do this? I understand your hatred for the rat, but to sell him to that _monster_? And must the turtles be included in this?" The Shredder's eyes snapped back to hers, clearly angry.

"The matter is not open for discussion."

"But…"

"No!" her father shouted, causing her to flinch once more. "You will do as I say and you will not question my decisions! You would do well to remember who's in charge here!"

The Shredder held her gaze for a few seconds, eyes burning, and then turned and strode away as if to leave her room. Karai stared after him, mouth agape. At the doorway he paused and visibly sighed.

"Understand, Karai," he said softly, not looking at her, "This is something I must do." And then he was gone, and Karai was left staring into empty darkness.

She sat like that for a long time, considering what he had said. It wasn't enough. She _couldn't _just stand by at let him do this. As much for him as for the turtles. Her father wasn't a monster. He _wasn't_. She couldn't allow him to do something so monstrous, because he would regret it one day and then he wouldn't be able to take it back. At least, she hoped he would regret it.

Mind set, Karai grabbed a bag of supplies and exited the base in search of the only person she could think of who would want to help her save the turtles and their friend. She had absolutely no idead how she would convince him to trust her, but she knew she had to try.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: **Thanks again for all your wonderful reviews! I'm not planning on dropping this story any time soon so please bear with me if it seems like I'm taking a while to get the next chapter out. I'm not completely satisfied with this one, but hopefully the next chapter will be better. :)

* * *

She was here again. She'd come here every day for the last three days and stood among the wreckage of his home. He'd watched her, waited for her to do something; but she'd just stood there staring into space. Her inaction just served to confuse Donnie even more. Why was Karai of all people visiting the lair? Why did she keep coming back? He wasn't even sure why he had come back here. He'd needed something to do so he didn't feel completely useless and he'd thought that maybe going home to pick up a few things would serve as a distraction, even if it was stupidly dangerous.

The first day, Donnie had been surprised to find that there was no-one guarding the lair, although he supposed that a large number of armoured guards entering the sewers every day might look a bit suspicious. Still, if they were looking for him (and he was sure they were) then surely his home would be one of the first places they'd expect him to go? Whatever the reason, he'd been able to slip in unnoticed and had thought he was alone until he noticed the Shredder's daughter standing where the TV used to be. He'd thought at first that she was the one guarding the place, but that didn't seem quite right. She wasn't moving round, hiding in the shadows or doing anything that looked at all like she was guarding the place. But what other possible reason could she have for being there? He hadn't done anything that first day, and neither had she. He'd waited until she'd left and then snuck out of the shadows to observe the damage done to his home.

The place was completely destroyed. He doubted, somehow, that the destruction had come purely from the Shredder and Leo fighting. It seemed that once his family had been captured, the Shredder and his followers had returned to smash everything up. He wandered into the training dojo, trying desperately not to cry, and stared for several moments at the door to Splinter's room which was lying discarded on the ground. The conscious part of Donnie knew that these were only possessions; that he should be more concerned with the loss of his family than with the wreckage of his home. And he was. But seeing everything he had ever known - his whole life - destroyed _hurt_. He had no idea how they were going to come back from this. Even if he did manage to save his family, and he didn't even know where to start with that, where would they go? What would they do? The Shredder had ruined everything, ripped his world apart, and Donnie was starting to feel like this was the end. Because he was just one teenager and he couldn't face up against all the evils in the world on his own.

He'd entered Splinter's room and had been rather surprised to see it mostly untouched. The only thing that had been moved was the cabinet where he kept the pictures of his wife and daughter which had been turned over. The pictures were missing. Donnie stared at the scene for several seconds and then turned away. He picked up a few things from his lab, thankful to see that the Foot had given Timothy a wide berth and he was completely unharmed, and then exited the lair. He resolved not to come back.

The next day, however, he returned. He'd spent several hours going over options with Darren and Caitlin and they were all tired and frustrated after coming up with nothing. The feeling of hopelessness he'd had when looking at the destruction of the lair had returned tenfold and he'd needed to do _something. _So he'd gone back, and Karai was there again, standing in exactly the same spot. He watched her and again she did nothing. By the end of the day Donnie was very confused. He returned to Darren's house where he'd been staying since the attack. Caitlin eyed him warily as he wandered in.

"Where did you go?" she asked. Donnie stared at her for several seconds before shrugging.

"Nowhere. Just out." For some reason he didn't want to tell his friends about Karai.

The next day he returned and he wasn't even surprised to find Karai there again. This time she was carrying a large black bag with her and was glancing around nervously as if expecting somebody to jump out of the shadows. When he'd set off this morning Donnie had been largely just curious. He'd wanted to know what she was playing at and was hoping today that he'd find out. But now he was angry. Furious, even. Wasn't it enough for her that the foot had captured his family and left him alone? Why was she _here_? Why did she insist on tormenting him in this way?

Donnie slowly lowered himself to the floor, careful not to make any noise. Karai was turned away from him and she didn't even glance in his direction and he inched closer to her, his staff held out in front of him for protection. At the last minute, he faltered. He didn't really want to fight Karai. Partly because he wasn't even sure he could beat her, but also partly because he was just too tired and worn down. He didn't have any reason to fight her really. It wouldn't bring the others back and it wouldn't undo what her father had done. He sighed and lowered his bo slightly but didn't step away.

"What are you doing here?"

At the sound of his voice, Karai gasped and twisted round to look at him. A flash of panic coloured her features for a second before she visibly relaxed and smiled.

"I thought-" she began and then shook her head. "It doesn't matter…"

"I asked a question," Donnie replied, coldly. She raised her eyes to look his. Something in her gaze seemed almost… hurt?

"I- I wanted to- I mean…"

"Karai. Get out of my house."

"I want to help!" she exclaimed, taking a step towards Donnie who swiftly backed away.

"_You_ want to help?" he asked. "That's a joke, right? You're joking." He laughed, although there was no humour in it and Karai shook her head violently.

"No. I want to help. My father…"

"I don't want to hear about your father." Karai scowled. After her momentary shock at seeing Donnie she was starting to recover and was becoming frustrated at his refusal to listen to her.

"Your brothers are ok. But my fath-the Shredder wants to do something terrible and I've got to stop it. We've got to stop it!"

"Why on earth should I trust you?"

"Leo trusts me," Karai said proudly, tilting her chin up slightly, but Donnie just raised an eyebrow at her.

"He _trusted _you. And you brought us nothing but trouble."

"That was before. I can help you this time. I want to help. Can't we just leave it at that?"

"Of course not," Donnie exclaimed, "You're my enemy. You're Shredder's _daughter_. And this is clearly just some misguided attempt to trick me. I'm not falling for it. After everything you've done, I can't believe you'd thought I'd even consider it!"

"Stop acting like you're some hero who's never done anything wrong. You're not always right, you know." She said angrily. Donnie gave her an incredulous look.

"I know I'm not always right. If I was then maybe your father wouldn't have my family in chains. But he does. So why am I even talking to you? Karai, if you really thought this little plan of yours would work, that I was going to trust you at all, then you're even more stupid than you look." He took a step backwards, intent on ending the conversation there, but Karai followed after him, her voice losing the anger and becoming panicked.

"Wait! I brought the plans to the building!" She held up the bag and he stared at it.

"Really?" Donnie asked, clearly not believing her in the slightest.

"Yes! Look!" Karai reached into the bag and brought out a blue tube holding it out to him. Neither of them said anything for a couple of seconds and then Donatello laughed.

"You know, for a second there, I almost believed you." Without another word, he turned and faded into the shadows, leaving Karai on her own her arm out stretched and a look of frustration on her face. 


	14. Chapter 14

It was already dark by the time Karai left the sewers. She wasn't sure why she'd stuck around that long but she'd spent the whole day hanging around the turtle's lair, waiting for Donatello to return, knowing that he wouldn't. It was entirely possible that Karai had completely messed this up. She had wanted to talk to Donatello, but considering her entire plan for doing this had been 'hang around his home and hope he shows up' she hadn't expected to get the chance anytime soon. And now she'd probably blown the only chance she was going to get and she'd never be able to rescue Leonardo and the others. Not on her own. So, not knowing what else to do, she'd stuck around.

Around midday some unconscious part of Karai's mind had prompted her to begin clearing up the ruin surrounding her; picking up the debris littering the floor, righting the turned over furniture and generally putting the place back together. She'd needed something to do, but it was silly really. Even if she somehow rescued the turtles and the others from her father, they were never going to come back here now the Shredder knew where it was. Still. It made her feel better after the disaster of a conversation that she had just had with Donatello. How the hell was she supposed to help him if he wouldn't listen to anything she said? Perhaps a better question would be, why was she expecting to be listened to if she wouldn't even have spoken to the turtle had their roles been reversed?

Karai had wandered into the other rooms, feeling like she overstepping a mark but no longer really caring. She lingered for several moments at the doorway to Leonardo's room. The bed had been turned over and the room still seemed to be settling around it, dust spiralling ever downwards but never seeming to reach the ground. There was a collection of Space Heroes DVDs and comic books strewn across the floor carelessly, a few of them ripped and broken. The sight of something of Leo's treated so badly created a surge of emotion within her – a chaotic mixture of sadness and guilt. More than anything she wanted to sit down with the sword-wielding turtle and just _talk_. She want to apologise for things that she was only just beginning to realise might have been mistakes and she wanted hear him say he was sorry for hurting her. She wanted to explain that the Shredder was her father and that she was loyal to him first and herself second. She wanted Leo to tell her that Splinter was _his _father and they would have to live with the fact that they could never be completely on the same side. She wanted to come out of that conversation with a friend. But she couldn't, and if she couldn't convince Donatello to trust her, she might not ever be able to. She didn't enter the room.

She did enter Donatello's room. Karai had never really noticed the other turtles much. Raphael strongly mistrusted her and made that clear at every available opportunity, but apart from that the other three turtles had slowly blended into being only _Leonardo's brothers_. Still, she knew a bit about him. She knew, for example, that he had a crush on the O'Neil girl that would almost certainly end in disaster. She knew he liked to mess around with machines and computers. She knew that he would do anything for his brothers and was intensely loyal to those he cared about. But that was a family trait, wasn't it? Karai wondered briefly what it would be like to be part of a family so completely dedicated to each other, but quickly dismissed it. There was no point thinking about something she could never have. So she knew straight away that it was Donatello's room, just as she had known Leonardo's. There were real books, not just comics, and the remains of a chemistry set in one corner and the room just oozed the personality of the turtle. Karai wondered if the place had actually been touched by her father's men. It looked like it was kept in a constant state of disorder. Because of course, he had a lab and a garage to build his machines but his room still had a dismantled computer covering most of the floor.

Karai had stepped into the room, careful not to stand on anything and found herself smiling for some reason. Something about the room just made her feel _fond_. She walked to the bedside cabinet, evidence that the foot had in fact been here as it was lying in two parts and picked up a book that had probably been sitting on top of it. She wasn't sure what to expect, but was completely unsurprised to find out that it was a book on famous renaissance artists. There was something hidden among the pages and when she opened the book there she found not the page on Donatello (as she had suspected) but instead, inexplicably, a representation of a painting by Alesso Baldovinetti. She reasoned that he was probably not marking a page, but simply looking for a place to keep the photo she found there. The photo was heavily folded and slightly faded, but the bright happy eyes of Leonardo and his brothers still stared back at her from the page. The four turtles stood together, Raphael with his arms slung around Michelangelo's and Donatello's shoulders and Leonardo standing next to them - apart, yet somehow not. They were all smiling and Michelangelo seemed on the point of bursting out laughing. It was a nice photograph. Happy. It made Karai feel sick.

Her actions today seemed to be completely out of her control. Everything Karai did seemed to come from some deep set instinct that she couldn't explain or even understand. So she had no idea why she brought the frame. She couldn't tell you why she felt the need to put the photo she'd found in Donatello's room in the frame and place in proudly on display in the living room. It was a terrible idea. If Donatello saw it, he was bound to be angry that she'd been in his room and it wouldn't help her cause at all. Once she'd done it she wanted to remove it again and smash the frame on the floor to release some of the helplessness that she was beginning to feel. She didn't. The photo remained where it was. She didn't understand why she was feeling like this. The turtles were her enemies. Why was it suddenly so important to her that they not die? Why did she want so badly to betray the only family she had? There seemed to be a lot of things that Karai couldn't explain about herself at the moment. She only knew that these things were true. She only knew that she needed Donatello to trust her, and she needed to save his family.

She was at a complete loss at how to do this. Finally, stupidly, she left him the building plans underneath the now framed photo and wrote him a note. _I'm on your side. You have to believe me. Please. _It wasn't enough. It was all she could do.

* * *

**AN: **The book probably doesn't exist. I just needed something that would link to the turtles. Once again, thanks to everyone who's reading/reviewing. You guys are awesome :)


	15. Chapter 15

"We should just storm the place!" Caitlin glanced up from her computer at her brother's outburst to shoot him an exasperated look.

"I sincerely hope you're joking," she replied, "Because that's one of the most stupid things I've ever heard." Darren scowled.

"It's not like we've come up with anything better," he insisted and Caitlin widened her eyes in mock surprise.

"We have a plan, in case you've forgotten." She gestured carelessly towards Donnie and the sprawling mess of machinery at his feet. Donnie felt his face heat up in sudden embarrassment and wondered absentmindedly if they could see him blushing. Caitlin was right – they did have a plan. What he'd told Mr O'Neil about a week ago hadn't been a lie, he really had had a flash of inspiration that had made him think, at least for those first few optimistic minutes, that they might actually have a chance. The Shredder would be expecting a rescue attempt of course, which meant that it would be incredibly difficult to sneak in undetected. So Donnie had the idea to make a machine to dig their way in, as the Shredder surely wouldn't be expecting that. But the more he worked on his newest invention the more and more ridiculous the whole thing seemed. Darren agreed apparently, as he gave a derisive snort and shook his head.

"That will never work, and we all know it! Sorry, Don," he added belatedly as if suddenly remembering that the turtle was there. Donnie didn't reply, instead turning his attention back to the framework in front of him. Caitlin visibly bristled at his words and fixed Darren with a glare, something that was actually pretty terrifying with her cat-like eyes.

"Of course it will work!"

"Really? You're going to burrow up into this guy's lair using some sort of futuristic digger machine and that's going to work is it? Don't make me laugh! Tell me one thing that's even slightly sensible about that plan. Once again, no offense, man."

"I'll tell you what's sensible about it: it doesn't involve the three of us attempting to take on a group of people who vastly outnumber and outmatch us!"

"No, it involves us accidently hitting a water pipe and causing a major water shortage for most of New York!" Darren exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"I don't actually want you guys to come. You'll probably get hurt," Donnie muttered although the siblings ignored him and continued as if he hadn't said anything.

"That's why I'm trying to find an underground plan of the city. So we can avoid bashing into things," Caitlin explained. Donatello started, remembering what Karai had said the day before. _Wait! I brought the plans to the building!_

"It won't matter! There's too much down there to avoid everything, especially in the city centre. And we don't even know where they're being held, anyway."

"Well if that's true then storming the building wouldn't do much good, would it?!"

"We have to do something," Darren persisted, "They could be dead for all we know!" Donnie's heart almost stopped. He suddenly felt very, very lost. _Your brother's are ok. _He clung to Karai's words desperately, hoping that she had at least been speaking the truth then.

"Darren!" Caitlin admonished but her brother didn't catch her warning tone.

"It's true. And even if they're still alive… it's been a week, Cat. Who knows how long it will be until the Shredder does something awful?" _my fath-the Shredder wants to do something terrible._

"We can't just rush in and hope for the best. We could do more harm than good…" Donnie stopped listening. He was finding it very difficult to breathe. Darren was right. They didn't have a hope in hell of saving his family based on what they knew now. Even if he could get his mole-inspired digging machine up and running, it would be useless if they didn't know where the dungeon was. And that wasn't even thinking about the guards or the alarms they would likely trip in the attempt. The machine had been something that he'd been idly thinking about for a while now and it had seemed the perfect thing to help him elude the Shredder and get his family back. But now he'd put the finishing touches to the plans and Caitlin had collected most of the part he would need to put it together so he could finally get started and actually _do something_, he knew that it had been a fools hope. _I have the plans to the building! _And he'd walked away. One of the most important things they needed and he had walked away when it had been offered. How did he know she wasn't telling the truth? Now he'd refused her once, how could he possibly find out?

Donnie slipped out of the house, his friends too intent on their bickering to notice, and returned for a fourth time to the place he had called home for such a long time. He wasn't ready to trust Karai but he needed to hope that she could help him anyway, intentionally or not.

She wasn't there when he entered the lair. His first response was surprise, followed swiftly by complete understanding. Of course she wasn't here after the conversation they'd had. He hadn't really expected her to come back. He almost left there and then, fully prepared to go and scream his grief to the darkening sky, but the state of the lair stopped him. Had Karai… cleaned? It almost looked the same as it had that eternity of a week ago, when everything had been normal and this had still been his home. Sure, some things were damaged beyond repair and she hadn't known exactly where everything went but she'd done a pretty good job of putting things back in order. He noticed a picture on the wall that he was sure hadn't been there before and wandered over with a kind of uneasy curiosity. He recognised the photo as soon as he saw it. He knew exactly where it had been, hidden between the pages of the book on his bedside table. He wondered briefly how Karai had found it. She must have been snooping around his room, but strangely this thought didn't really anger him. What was one more act violating his privacy in the face of everything that had happened? And it was nice to see his brothers happy and together. He took the picture off the wall and held it for several moments, eventually slipping it into the bag he had slung round his shoulders. It was then that he noticed the tube on the floor by his feet.

His breath caught in his throat as he stooped to retrieve it. Was this really the same one that Karai had proclaimed the plans to the building where his brothers were being held? Why had she left it? Donnie slowly opened the tube and pulled out the rolled up pieces of paper held within, spreading them wide on the ground. After examining them for several moments, the sinking feeling that he'd had since listening to Darren speak gave way to despair. If the plans were accurate, there was no way they'd be able to dig their way in without alerting the Shredder and getting caught. But that wasn't the biggest problem. If these were right, then his brother's weren't being held at the building that Donnie had suspected. In fact, it looked like they weren't at any of the places that he and his brothers had identified as belonging to the Foot. Which meant he didn't have the first clue where they were, let alone how to rescue them.


	16. Chapter 16

About half a day had passed when Karai began to regret her decision to leave the building plans for Donatello to find. In fact, she started to seriously doubt her sanity. There were several reasons why that had been a bad idea, most important among those being that if any of the Foot were to happen upon the plans then word would surely get back to her father and she wasn't sure if she could come up with a reasonable excuse for why sensitive documents that were meant to be locked safely in his vault were lying around in the home of their enemy. She'd taken a big enough risk sneaking them out of their home to have them copied; what was she thinking just abandoning them like that?

Also quite high up on Karai's list of 'Reasons Why this Plan makes me an Idiot' was the fact that it probably wouldn't even help her cause. Even if Donatello returned to find her peace offering he was unlikely to instantly decide to trust her. He was much more likely to just take the plans and try rescuing his family on his own. Karai considered that she should be pleased about this because she didn't want the Shredder to know that she was helping the turtles and limiting her involvement in the escape attempt seemed like a good plan; but she doubted Donatello's ability to complete such an attempt without her help. It was these thoughts, and others like it, that saw Karai rushing back to the lair in the late afternoon hoping to at least salvage something from the situation. What she found kind of shocked her.

Donatello was there staring at the building plans which he had spread across the ground, apparently in shock. This wasn't at all what she had expected. She watched him cautiously for a few minutes, fading into the shadows as her father had taught her, but the turtle barely moved. Karai wasn't sure what to do now. Her plan had been simply to sneak in, grab the tube and run away as if nothing had happened. She hadn't expected Donatello to be here and she certainly hadn't expected him to just be sitting there not doing anything. Carefully she crept forward, not really looking forward to another confrontation with the turtle. He gave no sign that he had noticed her presence and Karai spent several more minutes going through different ways to start the conversation in her head. Pretty much all her ideas ended with Donatello attacking her.

"You came back then," Donatello suddenly said, raising his head to meet her eyes, and Karai jumped at the sudden noise. Inwardly she cursed herself for her lack of control. Her father would have been furious at her for allowing her enemy to surprise her even if it was something as simple as an expected comment. Or maybe not. He'd probably have laughed that somebody was able to shake his daughter's hard-earned control so easily.

"You found my gift," she countered out loud and Donatello nodded in response.

"Yeah… thanks, I guess." Karai perked up considerably at that. Maybe he was staring to trust her!

"Does this mean-?"

"Where is it?" he asked, cutting her off before she had a chance to finish her sentence. His question confused her for a moment and when she realised what he meant she found herself surprised.

"It's our headquarters. Surely you know where we're based by now?"

"This isn't the plan of the Foot's HQ," Donatello stated firmly, "I know the basic layout of that building."

"We moved… You broke in there, remember?" Karai was no longer feeling cautious. Instead she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at the turtle's naivety.

"But the place was still in use!" Donatello protested, "It is still in use. I checked." Karai shrugged. The action seemed strangely flippant for what was actually quite a serious conversation and she instantly regretted it. Donatello seemed not to notice.

"My- The Shredder still does some stuff there. I mean he owns the building, so he might as well use it. But the actual headquarters is much further out of town now, down the river a bit. You guys really didn't know that?"

"Obviously not!" Donatello snapped, suddenly defensive. He looked like he might cry. She hoped he wouldn't. She had no idea how she would deal with that.

"I can show you where it is if you want. But the Shredder can't know that I'm helping you, so we'll have to be careful." He shot he her a questioning look.

"You want to show me your headquarters. And I'm not meant to expect a trap somewhere along the way?"

"Look, you're the one who's asking! Clearly you want my help, otherwise you wouldn't be here, and you're going to have to trust me at least a little bit in order to get it," Karai told him. She was steadily getting more and more frustrated at the turtle's cagey attitude. "How else are you going to rescue your family and the girl you like so much?" Donatello suddenly looked very old and turned away from her as if to hide the sorrow she glimpsed in his eyes.

"I don't know," he whispered. "Are they really ok?"

"For now," she replied, distinctly uneasy.

"But… Why? What's his plan? Why hasn't he done anything yet?"

"He has this friend. Back in Japan." Karai took a deep breath and wondered briefly if it was a good idea to tell Donatello this when he was already upset. She could hardly back out now. "He's a doctor of some sort, does research into evolution and natural mutation of living cells. He wants… er… he wants to do experiments on them so he can find out exactly how you're mutated and see whether he can replicate the effect." She tried to keep her explanation as simple and as clinical as possible, not wanting to dwell on the horror of what her father was planning and trying to soften the blow in any way she could; but the outburst she expected from the turtle didn't come. They sat in silence for several minutes. The only indication that Donatello had heard anything was a slight widening of his eyes in shock.

"That's… worse than what I was expecting," he said finally. He seemed unwilling to say anything else and Karai left him alone, allowing him time to take in the news. She studied him with worried eyes but she couldn't tell what he was thinking. Eventually, just as she was about to say something, Donatello turned to her once more and fixed her with a serious look.

"You really want to help?"

"Yes."

"Why, exactly?" Karai hesitated, not sure what to tell him.

"It's… complicated," she replied at last. Donatello looked at her, his face unreadable, and then nodded.

"So help." She sighed in relief and allowed herself a small smile.

"Good, cos there's no way you'd be able to do this without me."

"I still don't trust you, Karai. But I think you might be right about that."


	17. Chapter 17

As he slipped back into his friend's house, Donnie allowed himself to relax slightly. He'd been tightly wound for hours and he felt drained from the effort to maintain his guard. Karai hadn't led him into a trap. Not yet anyway. They'd spent several hours exploring the building where his brothers were supposedly being kept, Karai pointing out defences and alarms where she could, and it had been way past midnight by the time he'd got away. Being so close to his family and not being able to go to them had been torturous. He'd felt a constant pull from his heart, aneed to rush in and see that they were truly ok, damn the consequences. He didn't, because Donatello's one major asset would always be his head and letting his heart rule it was not something his was prone to doing. Still, it hurt. He thought perhaps that his heart might have actually split in two.

He'd snuck in quietly, thinking that Darren and Caitlin must be asleep, so he was mildly surprised to find them both awake in what served as the living room. Darren was pacing, his shoulders hunched, and Donnie could hear a continuous stream of curses that he muttered under his breath. Caitlin stood a little way to the side with her eyes glued to the clock as she chewed her bottom lip worriedly. Donnie gave a small cough to indicate his presence and two pairs of eyes jumped to him at once. Caitlin gave a small cry of relief and practically threw herself at the turtle, crushing him in a hug.

"Where the hell have you been?" Darren asked angrily. His hands were clenched into fists. Donnie raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Out," he replied shortly. Suddenly he felt a sharp stinging pain in his cheek. It took him several seconds to figure out what had happened. Caitlin stood before him, eyes wide and one hand over her mouth as if in shock, but she was shaking and Donnie knew that that was from anger because he'd seen it many times before in Raph. She'd slapped him. There were a few seconds of tense silence. Darren was staring at his sister in complete surprise, his own anger forgotten.

"You were gone for hours!" Caitlin hissed finally. She could barely get the words out through her anger and surprise at her own violence. "We were worried sick!" Donne suddenly felt very small. He hadn't told them he was leaving or where he was going and with everything that was going on they'd probably expected the worse. He hadn't even thought about how they might feel. He hadn't really been thinking at all.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, not quite meeting her eyes. Caitlin sighed.

"You can't do that to us, Don! What if something dreadful had happened?"

"I know. It won't happen again. I promise."

"It better not!" she scolded, "And you can't keep fobbing us off like this. We want to know what's going on. You need to tell us where you keep disappearing to."

"I… I will. But not tonight. I'm tired, Cat, and I just want to go to sleep." He raised his eyes to meet hers and she set her mouth in a firm line.

"No. You don't get to just-!"

"Er, guys?" Darren interjected hesitantly, "Don's face is bleeding." Donnie raised a hand to his cheek and sure enough he found it wet with blood. The scowl on Caitlin's face was suddenly replaced with an expression of stricken guilt.

"Oh no… God, I'm so sorry Donnie! Sometimes I forget about the claws…" Donnie flashed her a rueful smile.

"No harm done, Cat. Honestly, it's fine."

Caitlin insisted in cleaning his face and putting bandages or the worst of the cuts. Donnie felt a little awkward letting her tend to him. He was used to dealing with his own injuries. All four of the turtles were trained in basic first aid, of course, but on the few unfortunate occasions when one of them needed medical attention Donnie was inevitably the one who gave it. Raph and Mikey didn't really have the patience for it and Leo was the leader and the better fighter so he was needed elsewhere. So Donnie had learnt to deal with pretty much any non-serious injury that he got during a fight because he was the unofficial medic and therefore best suited for it. It felt strange letting someone else care for him. Not bad, just… different. When she was done she took up her interrogation again, refusing to allow Donnie to return to bed until he had told them exactly what was going on. Donnie eventually relented and told them about Karai, bringing out the building plans for his friends to see. His explanation was met with angry glares.

"You should have told us, Don," Caitlin insisted, eyes bright. "I can't believe you've been talking to the daughter of the enemy and you didn't think to tell us! What if it had been a trap?"

"That's why I didn't want to tell you. I wasn't going to do anything about it until today and I didn't want to bother you with something that would only be distracting."

"Quite frankly, Donatello, that's not really good enough. From my position it just looks like you don't trust us. Or that you trust that girl more than us! We're your friends. How can we help you if we don't have all the facts?"

"It's not about trust!" Donnie insisted, "It's _not _that I don't trust you. And I certainly don't trust Karai more than you."

"Well good, because she's still the enemy."

"Hang on a minute," Darren interrupted, "Cut the girl some slack! Maybe she really does want to help. After all, she's been pretty helpful already."

"So you're saying we _should _trust Karai?" Donnie asked incredulously. The older teen shrugged.

"Maybe. I just think you should give her a chance."

"She's the Shredder's daughter!" Caitlin exclaimed, "As in, the child of the man who kidnapped Donnie's family."

"Oh, and people are defined by who their parents now?"

"Not necessarily. But Karai has never really given us reason to trust her in the past, and I'm not just going to start now. Not about something so important," Donnie said firmly, although he was starting to doubt his resolve. Darren shrugged again.

"It's your choice, I guess. Just… think about it." He smiled and walked away, heading towards his bedroom. Donnie and Caitlin exchanged bemused glances.

"That was unexpected," Caitlin muttered, almost to herself.

"Yeah." His friend fixed Donnie with a look that allowed for no argument.

"You're going to tell Mr O'Neil about this in the morning." Donnie nodded quickly in response. It was probably a good idea.

The new morning saw Caitlin and Darren all but passed out in their respective beds and Donnie on Mr O'Neil's doorstep. He'd left a note this time. He really didn't want to have a repeat of last night. As April's dad distracted himself with making tea Donnie explored the living room. The furnishings were mismatched but cosy and the room looked comfortably lived in. Books were stacked in piles in random places in some cases so precariously that they looked as if they were about to fall over. There were several shelves filled with books and souvenirs from holidays that the O'Neils had taken over the years. On the walls there were photos. In pride of place above the TV was a recent portrait of April. In it, she was laughing, her head thrown back and her mouth wide open, looking carefree and oh so pretty. Donnie found himself drawn to her lips. He'd found himself thinking about her lips a lot recently. He thought it was probably best not to tell Mr O'Neil that particular bit of information.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Mr O'Neil said, noticing what had caught Donnie's attention. Donnie jumped at his sudden reappearance and for a single mortifying moment was afraid that his host had somehow been able to read his thoughts. "She looks just like her mother…"

"Her mother must have been a very beautiful woman," Donnie replied cautiously and Mr O'Neil nodded.

"She was." For a moment they just stood together in companionable silence. Mr O'Neil handed Donnie one of the steaming mugs in his hands and Donnie sipped on his tea gratefully. "Have you got any further?" April's dad asked finally and his voice was a strange combination of hope and resigned despair.

"I… Yes. Maybe. I've spoken to Karai." The human raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Karai? As in the Shredder's daughter?"

"Yes. She said she wanted to help."

"You don't sound like you believe her."

"I'm having a hard time seeing her turning over a new leaf to be honest," Donnie agreed.

"Well what did she say?"

"She showed me the Foot headquarters and told me that they're being kept in the dungeons. Me, Cailin and Darren have been trying to think of the best way to get in and out without tripping the alarms."

"Surely that would go more quickly with Karai's help?" Mr O'Neil asked and Donnie was taken aback.

"Well, maybe. But I don't want to really _trust_-"

"My daughter's been kidnapped. I think you can learn to forgive and forget if it gets her back to be sooner!" Donnie looked at Mr O'Neil in surprise, confused by his sudden aggression.

"I'm doing everything I can-"

"Well that's clearly not enough!" The scientist snapped. He suddenly looked wild; his eyes bright with fury and Donnie actually took a step away from him before he could stop himself. At this, Mr O'Neil seemed to deflated, no longer looking angry and instead just looking tired. "I didn't mean to snap, but I'm going out of my mind here. My daughter is in danger and I can't do anything to help her. I can't even go to the police because as soon as I start mentioning mutant turtles and aliens they look at me like I'm crazy! I need you to get her out and I need to know that you'll do whatever it takes to do it, because there's no way in hell that I'm losing her."

"I am, Mr O'Neil," Donnie promised.

"Good. Promise me you'll at least talk to Karai, then? I don't want you or your brothers to get hurt because of her, but this is April." Donnie hesitated. He'd already sort of accepted Karai's help, why did everybody seem so content convincing him to throw caution to the wind and trust her completely? The planning and the rescue attempt would definitely go quicker if they included Karai, but on the other hand it could massively backfire if she had some ulterior motive and got them all captured. Mr O'Neil was looking at him intently and Donnie felt himself begin to give in.

"Ok."


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: **This chapter took an age to write and I'm not completely happy with the end result... I think it does what it needs to though. Thanks once again to everybody who has enjoyed my story so far!

A young man stood partly in shadow, only the left half of the mask he wore illuminated by the early morning sun that shone through the room's single window. He held a sword by his side casually as if he had done so all his life, but his hands trembled slightly betraying his nerves. His eyes circled the room, taking in every detail but he clearly didn't see what he was looking for. After several minutes his palms were beginning to sweat and he almost lost his grip on his sword. He swallowed nervously.

Suddenly the glint of a sword edge caught his eye. Before he could react, the very shadows themselves seemed to jump out at him, knocking his katana from his hand and sending him flying backwards to land on the floor. A figure melted out of the darkness to swiftly retrieve his blade from the ground. The ninja stood over him, holding both his weapon and their own and sighed.

"That was pitiful."

"I apologise, Mistress Karai," the Foot soldier replied, hurriedly, "It is very early in the morning…"

"And that makes a difference?" the teenager snapped, "I wanted to get some proper training done this morning, not spend the time teaching a child how to hold his weapon properly." The man's face reddened in anger at her words. He was hardly a child, and he was certainly older and more experience than this little girl! He was glad, however, for the anonymity offered by his helmet because this little girl was his boss's daughter and he knew from experience not to anger her.

"Your skills of concealment are very impressive," he said in an effort to placate her. She glared at him.

"Yours are not. Perhaps you should spend some time practising your stealth-walking so you are not so easily defeated."

"I'm sure you are correct, Mistress." Karai sighed. She helped the ninja to his feet and returned his weapon to him. Immediately he took up a sparing stance. "Would you like to practise some hand to hand combat?" Karai shook her head.

"That's enough for today. You should practise on your own." She placed her training sword back on the storage racks and left the room without a backward glance.

Karai wandered down a deserted corridor with no clear idea where she was going. She knew she had been lax on her training recently but she had been distracted by the turtles and hadn't been able to focus properly. She'd tried to make up for it this morning by starting early but she had found her attention wandering. Not that it had seemed to make a difference as the man she'd asked to train with her had been completely incompetent. She sighed again.

"Something troubling you, Karai?" She turned dutifully to face her father not letting her surprise at his sudden entrance show on her face.

"Not really," she replied.

"Sighing isn't generally a sign of contentment."

"Nor is it always a sign of a troubled mind. I was thinking about something, that's all."

"I don't believe you," the Shredder told her, "You've been acting strangely recently."

"What do you mean?"

"Where do you keep disappearing to, for hours on end?" he asked in reply, "You sneak out of this building as if you don't want people to know your leaving and when you return you act as if you never left. I'm starting to get worried."

"I've just been training," she lied, "We seemed to end up doing a lot of fighting on rooftops recently so I thought I should get some practise in." The Shredder narrowed his eyes in suspicion. When people first saw him without his helmet on they were shocked and often scared by the scars on his face, but Karai was used to seeing him like this as he was more relaxed and open when it was just the two of them. However, the look in his eyes at that moment sent shivers down her spine and she suddenly wanted to be very far away from her father where he couldn't find her.

"I see. Since when do you feel the need to sneak around to go training? Believe it or not, I encourage anything that makes you a better kunoichi."

"I wasn't sneaking…"

"Stop lying to me!" her father interrupted his voice almost a growl, "I know you haven't been training. What have you been doing? Some of my Foot clan reported seeing you entering the sewers during one of your walks, but that can't be right, can it?"

"Of course not! What would I be doing down there?" Karai protested, although her heart hammered in her chest and she wondered if he could smell the fear that suddenly rose up within her.

"What indeed?" he mused. "I will find out what's going on Karai, one way or another, so you're better off just telling me now. I've given you a great deal of freedom. I can just as easily take it away."

"There's nothing to tell."

"I hope that's true otherwise you will be in serious trouble. I don't like secrets."

"I know father." The Shredder nodded, his anger beginning to pass. He examined his daughter carefully. He knew she was keeping something from him but he was beginning to think it was not as serious as he had first assumed. She seemed more embarrassed than anything. Maybe she simply had a secret boyfriend or had developed a powerful addiction to American hotdogs. Still, he was set on keeping a closer eye on her from now on. He wasn't lying when he told her that he was going to find out what was going on and when he did he would expect an explanation as to why she lied to him.

"Very well," he said to her, "If that's all you're going to say then I'll leave it there for now. I don't much like your rebellious teenage stage though."

"Thank you, father."

"I was thinking of going shopping today. Would you care to join me?"

"No thank you. I wanted to examine the men's progress today. Some of their skills were shockingly bad, but I'm hopeful we'll see some improvement."

"As you wish," the Shredder replied, "If you are sure that there is nothing you want to tell me then I shall see you later at dinner." Karai nodded and then eagerly escaped his penetrating gaze, practically running down the corridor. The Shredder watched her go with some trepidation. He fiercely hoped that her secret was something silly and insignificant. It would make things a hell of a lot easier if she would just tell him, but he'd knew her well enough to know that that was a fool's errand. There was no way he'd be able to convince her to talk when she didn't want to. He nodded briefly to himself and then strode of down the corridor in the opposite direction to his daughter.

Meanwhile, Karai was silently freaking out as hurried away. The Shredder was definitely suspicious and she shuddered o think what he would do if he discovered that she was helping Donatello. She had hoped to help the turtles escape without anyone knowing but that was looking increasingly unlikely now that her father would be examining her every move. The whole situation put her on edge. She rounded another corner and found herself in a disused storage room. A quick search of her surroundings revealed nothing and when she was satisfied that she was alone she retrieved her phone and typed in Donatello's number from memory. He picked up on the second ring.

"_Karai?" _

"I want you to meet me," she told him. There was a brief pause.

_"Why?" _

"No time to explain. Meet me at that old abandoned building we visited yesterday in 10 minutes. It's important." Donatello didn't reply for such a long time that she thought there must be a problem with the call. She was about to hang up and try again when he finally spoke.

_"Ok, I'll be there. But no funny business, alright?"_

"Good." She hung up before he had a chance to say anything else. She kept close to the wall and in the shade as much as possible as she slipped out of the building to avoid detection. She really didn't want to be followed today.

Donatello met her where she requested although he was three minutes late. He was frowning and his eyes were tired and somewhat miserable. Karai was beginning to question why she'd asked him to come. Her conversation with the Shredder had rattled her certainly, and she'd felt in need of a friendly face. Could Donatello really be counted as that though?

"Alright, what is it?" he asked in way of a greeting.

"The Shredder is starting to get suspicious." His eye's widened.

"What did he say? Are the others in any danger?"

"No I don't r think so," she assured him, "I don't think he realises that they have anything to do with it, to be honest. But he's starting to think I'm lying to him."

"You are," the turtle pointed out. Now he'd realised that it wasn't his family in trouble but only Karai he'd visibly relaxed and for some reason that made Karai angry.

"A little concern would be nice! I'm sticking my neck out for you here and you spend the whole time treating me like I'm not worth your time."

"I have no reason to-" he began but Karai cut over him.

"To trust me. I know! You say it all the time! Quite honestly, you're beginning to sound like a broken record. I get that you're being cautious but could you give it a rest for just a few minutes? I'm telling you this because I want your advice and maybe a bit of support. Do you have any idea how terrifying this is for me? The Shredder is my father, yes, but he's still the Shredder." Donatello looked at her curiously.

"You're… scared?"

"…yeah. Yeah, I am," she confessed quietly and for a moment Donatello's face was flooded with compassion.

"I hadn't really thought about how hard this must be for you. I guess I'm still waiting for this to turn out to all be a lie."

"I kind of got that impression."

"Subtly isn't really my strong point." Karai smiled at him weakly.

"How many times do I have to ask you to believe me before you do?"

"How much does the Shredder know?" he asked instead of answering her question and she was momentarily confused by the abrupt change in conversation.

"Not much really. I'm probably overreacting slightly," she admitted and Donatello nodded in reply.

"Well better safe than sorry. I don't think I have to tell you to be careful around him and not give yourself away so I won't. What I will say is that you should probably refrain from ringing me if you can help it. You might be overheard." Karai frowned.

"How will I contact you to meet up then?"

"You won't have to. You can just come round when you want to."

"Really?" she asked in surprise, "You'd show me where your friends live? Does that mean you trust me now?"

"Maybe you were right. I have been pretty harsh towards you and you have only been trying to help. Can we start over?" He held out his hand in front of him and Karai stared at it for several minutes before smiling slowly.

"Sure. I'm ok with that."


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: **Ok, so this is a very short chapter that is basically just here for exposition (and because I haven't updated in ages!), but I'll try to have a longer chapter out soon.

To say that Caitlin wasn't pleased when Donnie showed up at her door with Karai would be an understatement; but she saw the logic in it and she was willing to trust Donnie's judgement, especially if it would help them rescue the others. That didn't mean she had to like it. Or the other girl. Karai smiled as Caitlin passed her a cup of tea. Caitlin didn't return the smile and she was pleased to see Karai's confidence fade slightly under her stony expression.

"Well, I don't think the plan has changed much," Donnie said, breaking Caitlin out of her musing. She frowned.

"Er... Wasn't the point of _her _being here so that we could make things more achievable?" she asked. Donnie sent her a slightly taken aback look.

"Yeah. She is. I mean the plan's still pretty much the same, but it's actually possible now."

"I can take out most of the cameras so you guys can sneak in within being noticed," Karai explained. "You use Donatello's machine to break into the corridor where the others are being held, get through the door to their cell and leave the same way."

"Right. Because obviously it will be as easy as that," Caitlin grumbled, "Might I remind you that if we're caught we'll probably all end up dead. Or you know, dissected." Donnie flinched at that but Caitlin didn't bother to apologise.

"That's not going to happen," Karai soothed and the younger girl glared at her.

"You can't know that!" The kunoichi opened her mouth to reply, but Donnie interrupted before she could.

"Well… there _is_ more to it than that."

"See! What is it?"

"The only way to get through to the others is to hack into the Foot's main computers, which I'm fairly confident that either Caitlin or I could do," the turtle explained quickly, "But as soon as we do it's going to show up on the Shredder's sensors and he'll know something's up. We won't have enough time to get the others out before he sends his men to take us out." Darren sighed and sat back heavily into the sofa.

"So we're back to square one then," he groaned. Caitlin couldn't help but agree with her brother but Karai shook her head.

"Not necessarily. All we need to do if keep the Shredder busy while we sneak Leonardo and the others out. Hacking in should only show up as a minor blip on the screens, it would be easy to distract him from it."

"You going to do that then?" Darren asked. This time Karai looked a little apprehensive and turned away from the other occupants in the room.

"I can't do that. He'd know I was involved."

"Well, we wouldn't want you to go to any trouble!" Caitlin exclaimed.

"Caitlin… it's more complicated than that…" Donnie tried to explain but the mutated girl dismissed him with a wave.

"Oh whatever. I wasn't really expecting any different. What then?" she asked harshly. No-one made to reply and she looked wildly between the two ninjas who avoided her gaze. "Well?! Clearly you two have got this all worked out without us. The least you could do would be to tell us the plan! I'm assuming we're part of it in some way."

"I'm going to distract the Shredder," Donnie replied eventually. Caitlin made to protest but he stopped her with a raised hand, "You and Darren can break in without me and the Shredder won't expect anything if I'm fighting him. You two will be perfectly safe."

"Maybe you're right, but it's far too dangerous for you! You can't take on the Shredder on your own. Isn't that the main reason why we didn't just break down the door and attack in the first place?"

"I won't have to beat him, just keep him busy long enough for you guys to get out and then I can escape through the window. Karai says she can make sure it's open."

"What? No!" Caitlin insisted and she could see Darren nodding his agreement out of the corner of her eye. "There are so many things that could go wrong."

"I'll be right there," broke in Karai, "If something _does _go wrong, I'll… step in." She grimaced and a look of terror flashed across her face. It didn't really fill Caitlin with confidence that she couldn't even talk about standing up to the Shredder without flinching and her brother clearly agreed because he gave a small huff of disbelief.

"Yeah and we can trust you with that," he said, "This is a brilliant plan! Let's do it right now!" Donnie and Karai exchanged slightly exasperated glances.

"It's going to take hours to convince them that this is a good idea," Karai muttered. Donnie gave a resigned sigh and settled down for what was sure to be quite an argument.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: **Well I said I'd update again soon...

Donnie was angry. This wasn't normal for him. Sure he sometimes got a little frustrated, but never to this extent. Right now, he was absolutely furious. Raph was the one who got riled up and his brothers had enough experience with dealing with the fallout from his temper to at least try and control theirs. But just thinking that made him even angrier because Raph wasn't here and Donnie couldn't really see straight without him and Leo and Mikey. This whole thing was starting to get ridiculous. He should have got them out by now.

Donnie found himself with his fist in a wall and he wasn't sure how that had happened. He blinked. His hand was starting to hurt but Donnie just stared at it, actually physically unable to move it. The conversation with Caitlin and Darren had gone as well as he'd expected; which meant that Cat had ended up screaming at Karai and he'd stormed out before words turned into fists. He'd run to a random rooftop, and just begun pacing back and forth across it. He suspected that made him a coward. He wasn't good with confrontation, which might be a bit confusing considering he was a ninja and a self-proclaimed-vigilante, but it was different when it was his friends who were fighting. It reminded him of all those times he'd retreated with Mikey to one of their rooms while Leo and Raph argued. He couldn't contain the sob that burst out of him at the thought of never hearing them shout at each other again. Wasn't that a strange thing to miss?

"I feel like I should say something witty like 'what did the wall ever do to you?', but honestly I don't think it would help. It's terribly cliché, anyway." It was a testament to how messed up Donnie's life was now that he wasn't even surprised to hear Karai's voice. He turned to find her standing a few feet away, a concerned look on her face that didn't really match her flippant tone. She looked every bit the deadly ninja, black clothes, sword strapped to her back, posture guarded and ready for Donnie to lash out. Exactly as he'd expected. Except for one thing…

"Did Caitlin punch you?" he asked in surprise, indicating the slight darkening of the skin around her right eye. Karai shrugged.

"Darren actually. But I suspect that was because I drew my sword on his sister."

"What?!"

"Relax! I didn't do anything! Seriously, I'm not going to hurt either of them. I was just annoyed." Donnie tried to find the energy to tell her off, but to tell the truth he understood where she was coming from. Not that he wouldn't be having words with her later. Caitlin was his friend and she was only against the plan because she was worried about Donnie. But right then he was not feeling up to it so he brushed it off temporarily.

"Didn't go well then?" he asked instead. Karai looked a little surprised, but didn't push it.

"It went well enough. I think they're starting to come from."

"Darren punched you," he pointed out.

"Yeah, well, it's a long process," she smiled shyly and despite himself Donnie found himself grinning in return.

"Maybe we should return to it then."

"Not a good idea," Karai protested, "We don't want to push it. And you're hardly in the right frame of mind to be talking to them now."

"What do you mean by that?" Donnie asked and he narrowed his eyes into a glare. The other ninja held up her hands in mock surrender.

"I don't know if you've noticed but you've still got your hands clenched into fists," she told him. Donnie looked down at his hands and found that she was right.

"I'm… angry."

"I got that. What I want to know is: why?"

"I… I just…" Donnie broke off, unsure what to say. Karai was looking at him sympathetically and for some reason that made Donnie even more frustrated. He just couldn't help but think that she was patronising him somehow. Before he know what he was doing he'd closed the gap between them and was yelling at her. "Well, why wouldn't I be angry?! My family is missing and we're stuck he arguing! Can't you guys see that we don't have time for this?"

"Look…"

"No! It's not good enough. Who cares if it's a stupid plan? It's the only plan we've got! If any of you were in my situation you wouldn't give a damn about any of this. You'd do whatever it took to get your family back. And yet none of you are actually willing to help me and while we sit here _talking_, my brothers and Master Splinter and April are the ones to suffer. You're all being so… selfish!" Donnie was breathing heavily when he'd finished and Karai stared at him with an unimpressed expression. She nodded.

"Right. Perfectly good reasons. So why are you really angry?" Donnie deflated. He couldn't get out of it now, not after he'd shouted at Karai. He owed her something, and maybe it would be good to tell someone about the crippling feeling of guilt and shame that made him want to scream to the air. He felt hot tears rise to his eyes but held them back. He picked a distance point in the darkening sky behind the girl and sighed.

"I feel so useless. I should have been able to save them by now. They're probably going to _die _and it's all my fault!" Donnie glanced at Karai but her face was blank and unreadable. He turned to face the wall he'd punched and ran his fingers along the cool brick. His hand was aching but he ignored it. He deserved it. "I call myself a ninja, a _hero_, but I can't even save my brother's. I've always been so weak compared to them, but it's never really been a problem before now. I'm angry because I know that they probably hate me, and they have every right to." There was silence for several seconds after he'd finished. He wondered if Karai had walked off some time during his rant. Just as he was about to turn and see a thin hand landed lightly on his shoulder.

"They don't hate you," she whispered softly.

"How do you know?"

"Because they have no reason to. We're going to get them out in one piece, you have to believe that. I know it seems impossible right now, but it will work out. Plus, they're your family. They could never hate you." Donnie looked into Karai's eyes and was surprised to find only understanding and sympathy in her eyes and none of the impatience he'd expected.

"Like you could never hate the Shredder? No matter what he does?" She flinched and looked down. Donnie felt instantly guilty about bringing it up and hurting her when she'd been offering comfort. He didn't take it back though. For some reason he needs to know. Needs to hear her say it.

"Yeah," she muttered, "Just like that." Neither of them say anything after that for several minutes, each alone with their own thoughts. Donnie can't help but think about Raphael and all the times he would go to blow off steam. Right now, he knew that they both needed something to take their minds off what was going on, even if it was just for an hour or two.

"Want to get some late night training in?" he asked. Karai jerked her head up to meet his eyes and after a moment she smiled.

"Sure you can keep up, Geek?" she teased. Donnie returned her smile.

"Oh, bring it on, Freak."

It turned into 3 hours in the end and Donnie was exhausted by the end of it. He collapsed on the rooftop and stretched out his injured hand gingerly.

"How does it feel?" Karai asked, settling next to him.

"Painful." She frowned.

"You probably shouldn't have pushed it so soon."

"It's fine. Or, it will be in a couple of days anyway. It really stings though."

"That's what you get for punching a wall. Idiot." Karai told him. Donnie laughed suddenly and the kunoichi stared at him in confusion.

"What's funny?"

"I don't know. This." He gestured between the two of them vaguely. "Mikey would get it."

"Well. I'll just have to ask him about it when we get them out, won't I?" She stood up, obviously considering the conversation finished. Donnie followed her with his eyes but made no move to get up. Karai scowled. "We should be getting back. Judging from the scratches on your face, the kitten wasn't pleased last time you stayed out all night."

"They know where I am this time. And she'd be even less pleased to hear you call her that." Karai shrugged.

"We should head back anyway," she insisted. Donnie sighed but nodded, standing to join her. She made to leave, but he reached out and grabbed her arm before she'd got too far. "What now?"

"I just wanted to say thanks. For helping me and for understanding. You're a good friend." Karai stared at him in shock until he started to feel a little self-conscious. Slowly though her face broke into a grin.

"Anytime! Geek." He rolled his eyes.

"You should go and dispel the Shredder's fears that you're betraying him. I'll see you tomorrow. Freak." Karai smiled wider and they broke apart, going their separate ways.


	21. Chapter 21

The stars were bright and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Most of New York was asleep or hidden away in brightly lit bars, but a lone figure stood on the rooftops still as a statue. Donatello watched the sky anxiously, hoping that tomorrow would break the recent trend of clear nights. He'd feel better putting their plan into action under a clouded sky. Tomorrow. Tomorrow was the day he was going to get his brothers back.

Karai dropped down silently behind the turtle and allowed herself a slight smile when he instinctively tensed at her presence. She considered for a moment reaching for her sword and drawing the other teenage into a sparring match, but decided against it as she didn't think he'd really appreciate it right now. Instead she moved forward and stood at Donatello's shoulder, staring into the oblivion with him.

"Ready?" she asked quietly. He sighed.

"As I'll ever be." Nobody said anything for a moment and Donnie turned to his companion in slight confusion. "Isn't this generally where you're meant to say something like: it'll work?" She shrugged.

"I don't know that it will."

"Wow. That's helpful." Karai glared at him and he scowled back, both suddenly angry with the other.

"I'm worried!" she told him, "Don't I have a right to be? If you mess up tomorrow then I could lose it all!"

"You're not even doing anything!"

"I'm sabotaging my father's computers, to help his mortal enemy escape. If he finds out he'll never talk to me again! We've talked about this." Donnie deflated slightly. He could see that Karai was actually scared of what was going to happen. He'd forgotten for a moment exactly what she was risking to help him.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Look, he's not going to find out. Even if I do mess up, he never has to know that you helped us in any way. I won't tell him anything." He was trying to be reassuring but Karai looked at him as if he was insane.

"If you mess up, he _will _know that I've been helping you, because I'll be jumping in to help you out. That would be pretty hard for him to miss!" she exclaimed.

"You don't have to…"

"Of course I do!" she interrupted, "We're friends." A pause. Karai looked suddenly panicked. "We are friends right?"

"Yeah. I'd say so." Donnie was feeling a little shell-shocked to be honest (no pun intended). Karai had just told him that she would give up her family to help him and that was a pretty big deal even if she tried to pass it off as nothing. He was humbled by the realisation that she regarded him so highly and mentally cursed his younger self for not giving the girl a chance earlier. He never would have thought it possible but over the time they had been planning and building to get ready to rescue his family their tentative friendship had strengthen and now he felt nothing but affection and respect for her. He didn't want to cause her any pain if he could help it. There was something he had been thinking of saying for some time but had never been able to find the words. It seemed like now was as good a time as any to say it. He cleared his throat and she turned piercing eyes on him.

"If it does go wrong, which it won't," he assured her quickly, "You could always… come and live with us." Karai snorted.

"I think your family might having something to say about that," she replied, "Raphael would be especially pleased!"

"Raph would come round. He always does, you just have to give him time to calm down first."

"Oh, Donnie, Raphael is not the problem." Donnie started. That was the first time she'd called him Donnie. She skimmed over it as if it wasn't a big deal. "Splinter is the problem."

"Splinter?" Donnie asked, brow scrunching in confusion. She stared at him.

"He killed my mother! Surely you know that?"

"What? No he didn't!"

"Yes, he did!" Karai insisted, spinning away from him. The sudden realisation of who she was talking to and what they were talking about hit her and she couldn't look at Donnie anymore. "He and my father were rivals and they both fell in love with the same woman. But _she _loved my father and Splinter couldn't deal with that. They fought, and during it… my mother…" Karai choked back tears. She was surprised that the thought of her mother was still able to affect her like this. Recently, the only emotion she'd felt concerning her mother had been anger. Donnie stared at her in indignant confusion.

"That's a lie. There's no way that's true."

"It's not a lie!" she shouted. Ah, there was the anger. "How dare you call my father a liar?!"

"He is a liar. He's the Shredder, remember? He's the bad guy."

"Well your father's a murderer!"

"No he isn't! Splinter would never do anything like that." The two teens faced each other, eyes blazing. Karai's hands itched to retrieve her weapon and settle this with fighting, but she couldn't quite force herself to want to cause Donnie harm even with what he was saying. She tried to remember that they were friends. She didn't have many friends in New York. She didn't want to lose one. She took a step back.

"We shouldn't be fighting about this. Neither of us were there, we can't know what happened." She sounded much calmer than she felt and she was glad for it because Donnie instantly looked calmer and slightly guilty.

"You're right, we should just leave it. Focus on tomorrow. There's no sense getting distracted now." Karai nodded her agreement.

"Come on. Let's head back. You should get some sleep while it's still night-time." He followed her back towards the street level. They both felt subdued and now more worried than ever. A schism had opened in their friendship and it seemed to stretch out unbridgeable between them. Donnie watched Karai and was saddened by the hopelessness he found in her face.

"I was serious, you know," he said quietly after a moment, "You could come and live with us." Karai gave him a sad smile.

"That's not possible, Donatello."


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: **So, it's been ages. Sorry about that. Haven't abandoned it yet though!

It was moments like these when Caitlin really started to question her sanity. Was she really breaking into a ninja-stronghold using a hastily cobbled together digging machine in order to rescue her friend's family, who happened to be mutant turtles? Was this what normal girls her age were doing right now?! She was practically bouncing up and down in her seat because of her nerves. There were so many things that could go wrong with this plan, it was actually ridiculous. Was it too late to back out and try and find something resembling a normal life?

"Look alive, Cat," Darren said from next to her, "We've made it through."

"And we haven't set off any alarms?!" she whispered in shock. Darren gave her a strange look.

"Clearly, no. Karai said we'd have a clear path." Her brother was already making his way out of the machine, into the darkened corridor beyond. Caitlin rolled her eyes.

"Exactly. _Karai _said," she muttered, but followed him out anyway. The corridor was deserted. Apparently Karai had kept her word and ordered the guards anyway from this area to allow them access to the dungeon. Well. Caitlin still didn't trust her.

They made their way swiftly to the door that supposedly stood between them and those they were here to rescue. Caitlin quickly set up shop, preparing to enter into the building's computer system and override the locks on the doors. She gave a curt nod to Darren who signalled Donatello, hopefully waiting in position, with his phone. Almost immediately, several floors above them, Donnie burst into the building and started making as much noise as possible. Safe and secure in their abandoned corridor, Caitlin started work on unlocking the door and then disabling the alarm system, something that Karai had _said _wasn't possible for her to do without it being obvious. Caitlin just hoped that Donatello was enough of a distraction to keep the foot with their eyes off the computers so they didn't notice what she was doing. Several minutes later she turned to Darren triumphantly, having turned off the last alarm. And that was when all hell broke loose.

A lone foot solider suddenly appeared around the corner, stopping dead at the sight of them. The two teens stared at the masked ninja in shock. Before Caitlin could even process what was happening the foot soldier had pressed a button on his wrist strap and suddenly the building was filled with alarms.

"Quick, get them out of there!" Darren ordered, taking charge, "I'll hold him off."

"You can't fight!" Caitlin protested. The foot soldier had drawn his weapons and was now charging towards them. Darren turned to meet her eyes for a second. He was scared. It made Caitlin positively terrified.

"Best get me some back up then," he told her. She turned immediately, throwing herself into the previously locked room and five pairs of eyes fixed on her.

"Who the hell are you?" One of the turtles (she assumed Raphael due to the rudeness of his tone) demanded angrily.

"I'm Caitlin," she replied, already working on releasing the manacles, "I'm here to rescue you."

"Not to be rude, young lady," Master Splinter said softly, "But I don't believe we know you."

"I'm a friend of Donnie's," she explained, "But please, we don't have time for this! My brother needs your help. The foot surprised us as we were breaking through the door and he's on his own against them." The three turtles exchanged calculating looks. They seemed to find her trustworthy because they rushed off outside and she could hear the sound of fighting through the door. Splinter helped April to stand and the two seemed to be supporting each other as they moved awkwardly toward the door.

"Are you hurt?" Caitlin asked but Splinter shook his head.

"Cuts and bruises. We were very lucky to come off so lightly."

"Just sore," April confirmed. She sounded a bit off and Caitlin took a moment to study the other girl. April seemed subdued and a little broken down. Caitlin realised that this whole ordeal must have been tough on her.

"Your father will be happy to see you." April turned to her sharply and opened her mouth to reply but she was cut off by the door opening again to reveal Darren impatiently standing there.

"Come on," he ordered, "We don't have much time." The three of them joined the others in the hallway and Caitlin was shocked to find around 5 foot soldiers lying unconscious on the floor.

"Some rescue this is," Raphael was complaining, "How come we had to do the fighting?"

"Shut up, Raph," Leonardo ordered half-heartedly, sending their rescuers an apologetic smile. Darren still looked a little sheepish.

"This way," Caitlin ordered, conscious that the longer they stayed here the more foot they would begin to attract. She led them quickly back to digging machine, the alarms blaring around them.

"Oh, awesome!" Mikey exclaimed upon seeing Donnie's newest invention, "What does it do?"

"It burrows through the earth," Darren replied shortly, "Now come on." He ushered them quickly aboard, powering up and getting ready to leave as soon as they were all seated. Mikey was still babbling and making up names for the new vehicle.

"…the Turtle-Burrower! No, that sounds stupid… how about the Shell-Burrower? The Mole-Machine? Oh, or the…"

"Shut up, Mikey!" Raph yelled finally, "No-one cares what it's called, only that we're finally getting out of here!" Mikey immediately shut up and moved as far away from Raphael as he could. Which wasn't very far, considering how small the thing was and that he and Raph was sitting next to each other. Caitlin let out a relived sigh as they finally left the foot headquarters behind. It looked like they might actually make a clean get away. Darren grinned at her and she couldn't help but grin back. They'd actually done it!

"What about Donnie?" Leonardo asked suddenly.

"Don't worry about it. He'll make his own way out of there." Leonardo frowned.

"But he's all on his own! Maye we should go back for him."

"Listen, its fine," Caitlin reassured him, "He knows what he's doing. It's all part of the plan." To be honest, she wasn't sure that it _was _fine. Setting off the alarm had not been part of the plan and she knew that that put Donnie in a potentially perilous situation. She wasn't sure she could live with herself if they freed his family, only to have Donnie get caught instead. Still there wasn't much they could do except stick to the plan and hope that Donatello could still get out of there. Karai _had _promised to step in if anything went wrong.

"I don't really feel comfortable leaving him there," Leonardo said, but thankfully let the issue drop, apparently satisfied that his brother was smart enough to not get himself in a situation he couldn't get out of.

"So who are you guys anyway?" Raphael asked abruptly.

"We told you," Darren replied irritably, "Friends of Don." Raph snorted.

"Right yeah. Macho-man and Fish-breath. He talks about you all the time!" Caitlin bristled.

"We asked Donnie not to tell anyone about us."

"Why is that?" questioned Master Splinter, "You are a mutant, like us. We could have helped you."

"Look, me and my sister have our own reasons for not wanting our existence broadcast to the world, and we don't need to share them with you! Just leave it, will you?" There was silence for a moment and then Leonardo reached out and laid a hand on Caitlin's arm. She turned to him and their eyes met.

"Thank you for coming to rescue us," he said sincerely, "And for being a friend to our brother." Caitlin was a little confused by the formality of his words but was grateful for them nonetheless. She smiled at the turtle warmly and he matched her grin with one of his own.


	23. Chapter 23

Donnie gave a strangled gasp as the Shredder swiped viciously at his torso, sending him crashing to the floor. He struggled to get to his feet, not ready to give up just yet, but the armoured man loomed over him and gave a swift kick to his side leaving Donnie gasping for breath. The turtle curled in on himself slightly. His whole body ached. He was starting to remember why going up against the Shredder on his own was a bad idea. Oh, it _hurt_.

Donnie clenched his fist around his mask hard enough to leave marks on his skin, but it did nothing to distract him from the situation at hand. The Shredder was saying something and Donnie tensed instinctively, but he couldn't quite seem to make out what the man was saying. At some point in the fight he must have been hit over the head because all he could hear was a roaring in his ears that seemed to only get louder and louder. Vaguely, Donnie noticed Dogpound move towards him angrily and almost flinched but the Shredder snapped at the henchman to back off. He really shouldn't be worried about Dogpound anyway; the Shredder was who he should be worrying about. Speaking of his enemy, the man was talking again. Donnie shook himself and tried to listen to what the Shredder was saying.

"…of time I've spent looking for you! And here, you come in with next to no plan and a length of wood against me? I can't believe I ever considered any of you a threat." Donnie, now a little more coherent, felt a surge of anger at his words. He almost growled, wanting nothing more than to jump up and defeat the Shredder once and for all but not quite having the strength. The Shredder turned away from Donatello and waved his hand vaguely in the direction of some of the foot soldiers, indicating that they should take him away. Before he'd taken more than two steps, one of the counsels on the other side of the control room began to emit a loud beeping sound.

Donnie swore that his heart actually stopped for a moment.

This was it.

This was the end.

"What the…?" The Shredder asked, spinning towards the direction the sound was coming from. Donnie knew that his only hope now was to bluff it and hope that Cat and Darren could still get the others out. Smothering the panic that threatened to overcome him, Donnie raised his head fully and smiled. 

"Oh come on," he said, "You didn't _really_ think that was all I had, did you?" The Shredder whirled and had the turtle by the next up against the wall in seconds.

"What have you done?!" he snarled. Donnie swallowed to try and clear his throat that was dry all of a sudden. If he could just keep the Shredder's attention on him then maybe there was a chance…

"I'm not telling you anything," Donnie replied with a confidence that he didn't feel. His enemy's face twisted into a terrifying scowl.

"Why am I wasting my time with you?" he spat, "I should just kill you know." He threw the turtle away from him as if he weighed nothing and retrieved his sword bearing down on Donnie with fire in his eyes. All the bravado left Donnie in a moment. This man could kill him quite easily and wouldn't think twice about it. The turtle scrambled backwards trying to find something to defend himself with and coming up short. The Shredder smiled, a vicious glint in his eye, and stalked forwards slowly.

"Sir!" interrupted a voice suddenly. Dogpound. "Shouldn't we deal with the others? What if the turtles are escaping?" Donnie was at once grateful that he had and distracted his master and furious at him for reminding the Shredder about his family. Getting them out safe was the whole point of this stupid plan! It didn't matter if something happened to him, as long as his brothers were ok. He opened his mouth to try and rile up the Shredder into forgetting about his prisoners again but found himself paralysed by the sight of the sword as it glinted in the artificial flashing lights of the control room. The Shredder glanced at his henchman.

"You're right. Get down there! Instruct all the soldiers to stop the prisoners at all costs. I no longer want them alive. In fact…" at this the man turned back to Donnie and smirked evilly, "…now I want them dead." Dogpound responded quickly to the order, he was gone before Donnie was even able to process what the Shredder had just said. If he'd thought the despair and panic he'd been feeling had been bad, before the sound of the Shredder literally condemning his family to death made it ten times worse. He was finding it difficult to breathe. And that wasn't even his most immediate problem.

The Shredder raised his sword again and Donnie didn't have the strength or even the will to do anything to stop it. He closed his eyes and made one last silent plea that his sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.

"Stop! You can't do this!"

"Karai?" Donnie's eyes snapped open in surprise. Karai was standing between him and her father, swords drawn in a defensive stance. Where had she come from?

"I won't let you hurt Donatello," the teenager said firmly. Her father stared at her incredulously.

"What is the meaning of this?" Karai made no move to reply and the Shredder narrowed his eyes to slits. "Move aside Karai. You are acting like a child."

"No."

"No? You would disobey me?" the Shredder sounded honestly confused. "Why do you suddenly defend the turtle?"

"Donatello is… my friend." For a moment nobody said anything. Then, a flash of realization showed on the Shredder's face that vanished to make way for cold fury.

"You helped him get in here, didn't you?" he growled, "You helped our enemies? The offspring of the monster that killed your mother?" Karai flinched and opened her mouth to defend herself but the Shredder cut her off. "You ungrateful child! I am your father! How dare you do this?"

"Father, please, I only…"

"No! I don't want to hear another word!" The Shredder lunged, sword flashing and Karai stood in front of him in devastated shock. With an energy that he didn't really have, Donnie leapt to his feet and dragged her backwards so the Shredder's sword slashed on the empty air.

"We have to go!" he hissed.

"But, I need to make him understand…"

"You can't! There's no time!" Karai looked like she wanted to argue and Donnie had to pull her out of danger once more as the Shredder attacked his daughter. The only reason they were both still alive was because the man's anger was distracting him but the other foot soldiers in the room were beginning to realise what was going on and Donnie knew there was no way they could take them all on. He grabbed Karai's arm and dragged her away, ducking away from reaching hands and striking swords in a desperate bid to reach the outer window. Karai pulled herself together long enough to help force her way through and they were helped by the fact that most of the men were defending the door. They didn't expect anyone to jump out of a sixth storey window.

"Stop them!" the Shredder screamed, and surely they would have been stopped if they hadn't planned ahead for this moment. Reaching the window Donatello and Karai smashed through the glass and jumped onto the waiting zip wire, zooming off into the night. Behind them, the foot headquarters descended into chaos. Donnie couldn't quite believe it. They'd actually got away.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: **A few quick notes about this chapter. This was going to be the last chapter (of a fic that I originally with 10 chapters...) but I still have quite a lot to wrap up so there's going to be another couple of chapters after this. Also, this chapter mainly follows Splinter's thoughts and as he knows that Karai is his daughter at this point she's called Miwa pretty much throughout. I hope this makes sense and isn't too confusing. Thanks once again to all my wonderful reviews and anyone who's followed/favourited this fic, you guys really make my day. Now, on with the chapter!

The air was cool and refreshing on his skin and Splinter almost smiled at the simple fact that he was _outside_. They were safe, something that he had been prepared to write off as a foolish dream. A feeling like triumph but not quite as joyful stirred in his chest. Perhaps it was just… relief. Yes. He was relieved. His family had been rescued. But there was a problem with that line of thinking, stopping him from celebration. Not all his family was accounted for. Where was Donatello?

That mutant girl and her brother had brought Splinter and the others to a small park a few blocks away from where April's dad lived, where they were waiting impatiently for Donatello to arrive. April was obviously eager to go and find her father but Darren and Caitlin had been reluctant to separate until they knew that Donatello was safe and had persuaded her to wait a little longer. She was now curled up next to Michelangelo who sat cross-legged on the grass with his arm around her shoulders in a comforting gesture. The orange-clad turtle had taken it upon himself to look after April with an overprotectiveness that was a little shocking. Perhaps it was because that was normally Donatello's job and he wasn't here to complete it. Raphael paced. He looked worried and a little frantic, and Splinter could tell that he was running through every possible scenario of the fight between Donatello and the Shredder trying to find one where his brother got out alive. Every so often he would shoot a suspicious look at Donatello's friends who were whispering to each other on the nearby bench. Apart from a few instructions the two had said very little to the rest of them so Splinter understood why his son was wary. They seemed reluctant to offer any sort of explanation or reveal whatever plan they seemed to think Donatello had. Splinter couldn't really understand why that might be.

"Master Splinter, what are we going to do?" Leonardo asked softly. The final member of their group stood at Splinter's side, hands clasped behind his back as if it could disguise the way they shook with nervous energy. Something painful twisted in Splinter's heart as he considered the words. _Master Splinter._ Recently when he looked at his sons, these four strange and wonderful boys he'd somehow managed to adopt, he couldn't help but feel sad that they never seemed to call him father. Or dad. Or Papa. It shouldn't bother him. He'd encouraged them to call him Master Splinter. They were his students, after all, and that level of respect was important. But still, ever since he'd found out that Karai was… Well. Sometimes he just wanted to know that they saw him as more than a teacher. He wanted to be _someone's _dad. Splinter swallowed anything he might have said to tell his sons this and instead replied to Leonardo's question.

"We must wait." Raphael whirled to face him, angry.

"We can't just…"

"Don'll be fine," Darren interrupted, rolling his eyes. "How many times do we have to tell you that?" Raphael instantly turned his anger on the teenager, grabbing him by the shirt and hauling him to his feet.

"He's our brother! I'm not just going to take _your _word for it that he's ok."

"He will be _fine_," Darren insisted, his voice showing a calmness and patience that should have been impossible given that Raphael was glaring at him fiercely.

"How the hell do you know?!" Raph growled. Before Darren could respond, April leapt to her feet her face breaking into her first smile for weeks.

"Donnie!" she exclaimed. The others froze and turned to look toward the heavy darkness of the nearby trees. Sure enough, the missing turtle was stood there, bloodied and a little worse for wear but sporting the biggest grin that Splinter had ever seen on his face.

April rushed to him and threw her arms around him before the others could even react, causing him to wince and almost fall over as she aggravated his wounds. He wasn't given any time to recover however before he was engulfed in a group hug by his overjoyed brothers. Splinter hesitated for a moment before joining his family and pulling them all into his arms. He was so happy to be able to hug them and to know that they were alive, whole and safe.

"I'm so glad you're alright," April confessed seriously when they finally pulled back enough to allow breathing space.

"I'm glad you're ok too," Donatello told her, impulsively hugging her once more. Raphael and Michelangelo exchanged teasing looks at the display of affection but Splinter was a little shocked at how not like Donatello it seemed. He wasn't nervous or stupidly happy to have her attention almost as it his crush didn't factor in his mind at all.

"It's good to see you, bro," Raphael said with a grin, "You had Leo and Mikey worried for a while there."

"Had myself worried, if I'm honest. But it all worked out great in the end."

"How did you manage to escape?" Leonardo asked causing Donatello to suddenly look nervous.

"Well… I kind of had some help…"

"Yeah, the circus-freaks over there," Raphael jerked his head to where Caitlin and Darren stood, just outside their gathering, "What's with them anyway?"

"He didn't mean us," Caitlin muttered, scowling and Raphael looked surprised.

"Then, who…?" Raphael didn't have time to finish his question before a second figure stepped out of the shadows. A young woman, her hair cut short and her body protected by armour…

"Karai." Leonardo stated, instantly on the defensive. _Miwa _Splinter thought, and his heart broke all over again, but he did nothing to intervene. His daughter surveyed them coolly, although Splinter could see that she was shaken up about something, hiding her distress behind confidence. His heart ached.

"Leonardo. I am pleased to see you all made it out."

"Yeah right!" Raphael snarled, his hands raised as fists, "Pleased that you get to run back to daddy and tell him you found us more like!"

"No, Raph! She's been helping me!" Leonardo frowned and Michelangelo pushed April behind him. For once the girl didn't seem to mind being treated like a defenceless child and stayed put.

"What if this is a trap?"

"It isn't!" Donatello insisted, "Karai's on _our _side." He seemed almost desperate for them to believe him, staring at them with wide pleading eyes. The other turtles remained unconvinced.

"She probably just pretended to help you so you'd lead her to us!" Raph exclaimed.

"No, she didn't. She's my friend!" Donatello's loud declaration was met with stunned silence. Splinter watched his son carefully, noting the way he put himself in between them and Miwa as if to protect her and Miwa's almost indulgent allowance of this protection. He blinked. Donatello had made friends with his daughter? That was… unexpected.

"You're friends? With her?" Raphael said, sounding as if he didn't quite believe it either. After everything that had happened with Miwa, Splinter had found it hard to imagine any of his sons truly forgiving her, with the exception of Leonardo perhaps. It seemed he wasn't the only one. Donatello nodded firmly.

"If it wasn't for Karai, we would never have been able to succeed. She's proven that she can be trusted and she practically gave up everything she had to help me escape." Miwa winced as he said the last part, her face crumpling slightly is despair before she reapplied her mask of calm indifference. Nobody really had anything to say to that and they just continue to stare at Donatello as if he'd just announced that Michelangelo had been elected president. Which, really, was too silly to even think about. April sighed, stepping out from behind Michelangelo.

"Look, guys, I'm really glad we all got out alive. And I'm with Raph on this: I don't trust _her _at all," she fixed Miwa with a glare that the other girl returned with equal intensity, "But I can't really deal with this right now. I want to go home and see my dad." Donatello looked suddenly stricken.

"You're right, you should have gone home right away!" April smiled at him weakly.

"That's not what I'm saying, Donnie. I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"And we didn't want her wandering off on her own," Darren interjected. He seemed almost amused by the scene playing out in front of him and Splinter guessed that he had already known about Miwa and that was why he'd been so confident of Donatello's success.

"Well… fine. I don't like the idea of any of us being on our own right now, either. But your dad will be really angry if we don't let him know you're safe straight away." Don turned to address his family. "I know we still have to talk about this and I am really, _really _glad to see all of you, but I need to take April home. Could you go with Caitlin and Darren to their house and I'll meet you there?" Leonardo and Raphael looked like they might argue but eventually they agreed and Donatello rewarded them with a smile. The four brothers stayed in a tight hug for a brief few moments and then Donatello extracted himself and led April away. He paused to say something to Miwa, his hand resting briefly on her arm. Her lips thinned and she sent Splinter a vicious look but nodded and Donatello was gone before Splinter could begin to wonder what had been said.

"Alright then!" Darren said cheerfully, as soon as April and Donatello had disappeared, "Follow us to the dump!"

"The dump?" Michelangelo asked, "Why are we going to the dump?"

"You'll see, my friend. You shall see!" Caitlin rolled her eyes at her brother's antics but offered no further comment simply indicating that they should follow her and they set off. When most of the others had left the immediate vicinity, Miwa made her way over to Splinter and fixed him with a glare.

"Listen, rat, Donatello asked me to be civil. So I will. For Don. But don't expect anything more from me. I'm not going to forgive you. You're a murderer and I want _nothing _to do with you." She stormed away and left Splinter feeling a devastation that made him want to hide away from the world and never talk to anyone again. He managed to find the energy to move and followed his daughter, those words feeling like shards of ice through his heart.


	25. Chapter 25

April walked with her head slightly bowed and her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Every so often, Donnie would shoot her a concerned look and open his mouth as if to say something but she would simply bend her head a little more, causing her unwashed red hair to fall as a barrier between them, until he turned away again. Now that the initial joy of seeing Donnie alive was beginning to wear off, April had started to slip back into her earlier guarded and slightly depressed state. She felt her eyes water and wondered if she was just starting to get a cold or if she was about to burst into tears.

"How are you?" Donnie asked after several minutes of silence. His voice was gentle. April wanted to scream at him. How did he think she was? She'd been kidnapped and tied up for weeks, not being able to go outside, not being able to see her dad, not even knowing if she'd survive the day! She felt awful. She just wanted to bury her head in the sand and let someone else deal with things for once. What did he expect from her, really?

"I'll be ok," she said instead and Donnie frowned as if he didn't believe her.

"I understand this must have been…"

"No." she interrupted. He looked at her in confusion and she had to resist the urge to sigh. "No, Donnie, you don't _understand_. You weren't there." There was a pause.

"I'm sorry." A barely audible sigh and April looked away, refused to meet his eyes. "Maybe I should just let Master Splinter deal with this. He's better at this sort of thing anyway." The words were quiet and April wasn't completely sure that he'd meant for her to hear them but she was too tired, too raw after the events of the last few weeks, to make allowances for Donatello tonight.

"You do that," she muttered. She walked away from him, quickening her stride. She cared about Donatello. Perhaps not in the way that he wanted her to, but she still cared about him. He was her friend, her best friend if she was being honest with herself, and she was very relieved to see him alive again. Those weeks as the Shredder's prisoner she had been so worried about him, had pictured him miserable and alone, and she'd been certain that something terrible would happen to him. And yet here he was and he seemed fine, so why wasn't she more happy? Why did she feel so angry toward him? Was it because she'd thought he was suffering on his own when instead he'd been with friends, with Karai of all people? Was it because his concern was littered, as always, with the unsubtle hints that he _liked _her and why couldn't he just give it up and move on already? She didn't know. She only knew that she was angry, furious even. He was at her side, and she could tell that he was about to try and force her into conversation again and she wanted to punch him. He opened his mouth.

"Save it, Donnie," she snapped, still not looking at him. The turtle was momentarily taken aback. For a moment she thought he might actually do what she wanted.

"You will be all right, you know." So much for that. She rolled her eyes at him. "I mean it. I know you must be feeling terrible right now, but it will be ok. We're here for you. _I'm _here for you."

"I just… don't want to talk about it right now." She wished he would just take the hint. Another pause.

"I'm sorry I didn't get you out sooner." That got her attention. Funny enough, it had never even occurred to her to be angry about that. He had got them out after all, that was all she could really ask for when you got right down to it. She told him this and he smiled weakly at her.

"I should have been quicker. I should have stopped this from happening in the first place."

"Not your fault," she mumbled and she couldn't help but feel annoyed that she was comforting him when she was the one who'd just gone through a traumatic experience. Did everything have to be about him?

"I was so worried about you. I don't know what I would have done if anything would have happened to you, April." It was an olive branch of sorts, his way of telling her that he really did care and that he meant it when he said he'd be there for her. April was still angry. She wanted to rant at someone to cause them pain as if it would cancel out the pain she herself felt, but she couldn't bring herself to do that to Donatello. The turtle meant well. So she bottled her anger and tried to remember who she was talking to.

"I… I was worried about you, too."

"We'll completely understand if you don't want to do this anymore." April wasn't prepared for that. She stared at him in shock.

"What do you mean?"

"This," Donnie said, waving his arms around as if that clarified anything, "Being our friend. If you want to back out and have something resembling a normal life…. Well, we'd get it." He was hesitant, and had this hopeful look on his face and she knew that he wanted her to laugh at him and say that of course she didn't want that. Of course she still wanted to be friends. She couldn't quite bring herself to do it. She loved the turtles, she really did. She loved the friendship and adventure and excitement that they brought into her life. But along with that was also fear and danger, times when she felt like running and never looking back. Normally it was fine, the good outweighed the bad and it took a lot to rattle her anyway. But after the last few weeks… Let's just say that she hadn't yet made up her mind. She made a non-committal sound and pretended to ignore the way Donnie face fell. Donnie tried several more times to get her to talk about it, but she was resistant and refused to say anything so he gave up. She was grateful. This was something that she had to deal with on her own.

It didn't take long for them to reach her front door. April was so relieved, so blindly happy to be home, that she almost instantly forgot her simmering feelings of anger and resentment and actually laughed out loud. Donnie sent her an amused glance, but thankfully didn't say anything. She practically ran up the steps, knocking on the door feeling giddy. The door was opened a few seconds later and April was pulled into a fierce hug by her father.

"I'm so happy to see you," he whispered into her hair, "Oh, my precious little girl." April hugged him back just as fiercely. If she screwed up her eyes really tight she could almost believe she was a little girl again, back when the world seemed so much simpler.

"I, er, I guess I'll be going then," Donnie said awkwardly from behind her. The two O'Neil's turned to look at him.

"Thank you," April's father said, his arms still clutched tightly around his daughter. A mess of different emotions fluttered across the turtle's face for a second and then he nodded.

"I would do anything to keep April for harm," he told them. In the still of night the admission seemed much more powerful than he had probably meant it. April got the strange feeling that he had somehow just sworn his soul to her. She waited for him to take it back. Donnie hesitated, opened his mouth once, and then he was gone.

Her father led her inside and she let him, still shaken by Donnie's final words. He deposited her on the sofa and made his way into the kitchen to make tea, prattling on about nothing much all the way. She smiled softly and toed off her shoes so she could curl up on the sofa without getting it muddy. She definitely needed a bath but not right now. A yawn forced its way through her lips. April suddenly realised just how absolutely exhausted she was and she pillowed her head on her arms and allowed her eyes to fall shut. Maybe Donnie was right. Maybe it would be ok. She was alive and the people she cared about were all safe. Maybe that would be enough, with time.


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: **Wow, it's been an age since I last updated... sorry about that! Still, we're nearly finished now. Probably only one more chapter after this.

Donatello and Karai? Working together? How on Earth had that come about?! Leo watched Karai with a deep suspicion that he couldn't quite manage to lose. I had to be a trap. To his rational mind it was the only thing that made any sense. He kept waiting for her to betray then all even if nothing had happened yet. Far from it, in fact. At the moment she stood moodily in the corner, not saying or doing anything, while Darren tried to coax her into a conversation. Still, there was no way that Leo was letting her out of her sight. It was only a matter of time until she showed her true colours.

The house they'd been led too was comfortable enough but due to an unfortunate lack of chairs Leo was forced to sit on the floor. Mikey and Raph had commandeered the battered old sofa in the middle of the room and Mikey had actually fallen asleep, leaning heavily against Raph. Raph kept sending him angry glares but made no move to wake him and he was hiding his own yawns every other second. Master Splinter had taken the armchair. He hadn't said anything to any of them since getting here and Leo was starting to worry. He looked smaller and more vulnerable than Leo had ever seen him. They were all verging on exhaustion, understandable after the last few weeks they'd had to endure

"I should go," Karai said suddenly. Everyone's attention was immediately on the ninja.

"What, now?" Darren asked, "Don't you want to wait for Don to get back?"

"Yeah, don't you want to say goodbye to your new friend? Or maybe you're just eager to go back to your father and tell him where we are?" Raph accused, "You're not going anywhere, Karai. Did you really think we'd fall for this whole 'good-guy' act?" Karai's eyes flashed dangerously.

"I thought maybe you'd trust your brother! And anyway, how are you going to stop me? Yawn at me until I fall over?" Raph jumped up to show her just how he'd stop her, but unfortunately he'd forgotten about Mikey and the sudden motion only caused the pair to fall in a heap on the floor.

"Huh?" Mikey said, blinking sleepily at the room. Raph growled and tried to shove his brother off from where Mikey had landed on top of him, but had little success.

"Oh, calm down the lot of you," Caitlin scolded. She turned to Karai and observed the other girl with a sigh. "Where are you going to go, Karai?" she asked, almost gently.

"I'll think of something."

"Right. Sounds like a great idea. Just head out into the night with nowhere to go and a psychotic mad-man potentially searching for you. What could go wrong?"

"I can't stay here! I refuse to spend any more time in the same room as him!" She waved at Master Splinter who visibly flinched at her words and shrank further into the chair. Leo frowned. That was not the reaction he would have expected for his mentor.

"But you have nowhere else to go!" Caitlin protested.

"Don't you think I know that?" Karai shouted. She seemed almost wild with anger and Leo was shocked to see what looked like tears in her eyes. What exactly had happened to her? Leo was just about to ask went they were interrupted by somebody entering the house. None of them had any time to be worried before Donnie wandered into the room looking very worn out. He stopped dead at the sight that greeted him and burst out laughing.

"What happened?" He watched, still laughing, as Raph unsuccessfully attempted to sit up again. Mikey seemed to have decided that the floor was more comfortable than the sofa and refused to get up. The other turtle, to his shame, seemed to be having trouble dislodging him. Donnie stood there for a moment before heading over to help.

"Come on, Mikey, I'm not sure Raph can breathe." He carefully moved Mikey into a sitting position and as soon as he was free Raph pulled himself up using the sofa to stand and glare threateningly at Karai.

"She was going to leave and go back to the Foot," he announced. Donnie furrowed his brow.

"You were going to leave?" Karai had the sense to look sheepish at this, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. Caitlin nodded in response to Donnie's question.

"She was. With nowhere to go, and no-one to go to of course."

"I have people I could go to," Karai grumbled, "I'm not completely friendless."

"No, you're not. You have us," Donnie insisted but Raph clearly didn't agree.

"We're not her friends! Seriously, Donnie, you don't actually like the chick, do you? It's Karai! You seem to have forgotten that she's the enemy."

"She isn't, Raph. I'm not naïve. I know who she is. But she stood up against the Shredder to help me. She saved my life! Tell me how that makes her an enemy again?" There was silence.

"Really? She honestly saved your life?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah. I don't want to think about what might have happened if Karai hadn't stepped in to stop the Shredder. To stop her _father._" Donnie paused and looked thoughtfully at Karai for a second. "She gave up the only family she'd ever known for me."

Leo's head was reeling. Was this true? Had Karai really changed sides? He wasn't sure how to take that news. It was what he'd wanted ever since he'd met her. He'd known that she wasn't a completely bad person and that she could do good if she was only willing to believe it. But Leo really thought that it was never going to happen. Karai had let him down before, who's to say she wouldn't again? Still, Donnie seemed so sure of her intentions and Leo wanted Karai's friendship so much…

"I always knew you were a good person. No matter who your father is." Karai practically growled. Leo was confused. He wasn't sure what he'd said, but he'd apparently only managed to make her angry.

"Do not be disrespectful towards my father!"

"Lighten up," Raph said, rolling his eyes. "Didn't you just say that you betrayed the Shredder? You can stop defending him now! I really think daddy-dearest isn't going to care what you do anymore."

"Thank you for reminding me!" Karai yelled, "I can't believe I gave up everything for you. I can't go home and my own father wants nothing to do with me all because I helped you. I have nothing now!"

"That's not true," Donnie interrupted. He slowly walked to stand next to Karai. "You have us, just like I keep telling you. You're not alone." He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder which she promptly shook off.

"Don't you understand? I've lost my whole family!" Leo decided to help Donnie out and stood up, giving Karai a warm smile.

"So we'll be your family now. Family isn't about blood, it's about the people you care about. And we care about you Karai. Let us help." Karai laughed bitterly, her expression caught somewhere between anger and disbelief.

"A very nice sentiment, Leonardo, but I can't be part of a family that includes the man who murdered my mother."

"What are you talking about?"

"The rat! Your precious Master Splinter! Did he never tell you what happened?"

"You take that back," Raph shouted angrily, "Master Splinter would never do something like that!"

"That's it. Why don't you tell them the truth, rat?" They all turned expectantly to Master Splinter who had somehow shrunk even further into the armchair during the conversation. He met Karai's furious eyes and his own filled with tears.

"I did not kill your mother, young one."

"And now you're going to lie about it?" she exclaimed, "I thought you valued honour, or is that just talk? My father told me what happened."

"The Shredder lied to you."

"Master…" Donnie almost whispered, "Why don't you tell your side of the story? I think Karai deserves to know the truth."

"I know the truth," insisted Karai, "My father wouldn't lie to me."

"The Shredder is not your father! I'm your father!" Master Splinter's exclamation was met with dumbfounded silence. Everyone in the room stared at him in shock, not knowing what to say. Karai was the first to break the spell.

"Why would you say that? There's no way I'm going to believe you."

"Please-"

"No. I'm done with this." Karai turned as if to leave and this time nobody went to stop her. Master Splinter jumped up, suddenly desperate

"Karai! …Miwa, you have to believe me. Here, I can prove it," He reached into the inside pocket of his clothes and retrieved the family picture that he kept on him at all times. Karai, against her better judgement, took the photograph and saw the face of her mother staring back at her.

"Where did you get this?" she breathed.

"It's mine. I used to have a wife and we had a daughter called Miwa. The Shredder burnt down our house and killed my wife and I always thought that he had killed Miwa too, but a few months ago I learnt the truth. Instead of killing her he took my daughter and raised her as his own. You are Miwa. You are my daughter." Karai tore her eyes away from the photo to meet Splinter's. He looked back at her trying to convey all his heart break and grief as well as his joy at finding her again. Karai shook her head.

"I don't know if I can believe this."

"But this is great!" Leo burst in, a grin spreading across his face. "Don't you see? This means that you _are _family. You belong with us! You're our sister."

"Er, Leo? Maybe tone it down a notch?" Donnie suggested, "I mean, let's not get ahead of ourselves. This has been a massive shock and…"

"Come on, am I the only one who sees how perfect this is?"

"Yes actually, Leonardo, you are!" Karai screamed. She turned away from the man who'd just proclaimed himself her father and fled the house leaving an uncomfortable silence in her wake.


	27. Chapter 27

"What did I say?" Leo asked, honestly bewildered. Raph shrugged in response.

"Oh, who cares? Good riddance if you ask me. That girl's been trouble ever since we met her." Don glared at his brother and opened his mouth to argue but was beaten to it by Master Splinter.

"Do not talk about her like that. She is my daughter!"

"No offense, Master Splinter but are you sure? What if the Shredder just told you that to confuse you? I mean… Karai? Really?" Raph asked. Splinter looked outraged.

"Of course I'm sure. A parent knows their child!" He paused and lowered his gaze. His momentary outburst seemed to have weakened him and when he spoke again his voice was filled with sorrow. "She looks so much like Tang Shen, my love."

The teens exchanged worried and slightly guilty looks. Darren and Caitlin, sensing that this was a family issue, quietly left the room to give them some privacy. After a moment of nobody really knowing what to do, Mickey pulled himself off the floor and gave Master Splinter a hug.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you, I didn't mean anything by it," Raph said eventually and after giving him a searching look Splinter nodded.

"It is forgotten. But now we must find a way to show Miwa that she is part of this family. She shouldn't be out there alone, I should go and talk to her and convince her to come back inside where it's safe."

"Let me. She knows me better," Donnie cut in.

"Shouldn't it be Master Splinter? He is her father," Leo pointed out. Donnie shook his head.

"Right now, I don't think she'll want to see him." Splinter gave a tired sigh but nodded again.

"Very well, Donatello, you talk to her." Donnie smiled weakly and went to leave. At the door he paused and turned back to his family for a moment.

"Don't worry, Master Splinter, I'll talk her round." With a parting smile he exited the room and left his brother's to try and comfort Master Splinter

Karai hadn't gone very far. In fact she'd only made it to the rooftop where she had trained with Donnie the night before. Had that really been only yesterday? So much had changed since then that it seemed almost unbelievable. Only a few hours ago she's been certain that she was the Shredder's daughter and now she wasn't sure of anything. The picture of her mother stood next to Hamato Yoshi was ingrained in her mind so she couldn't think of anything else. She knew that picture. She had a copy with just her mother and had always assumed that the cut off part would have shown her father standing there. And now? Well. That wasn't exactly untrue…

When Donnie found her she was crouched low to the ground so she was almost sitting and staring straight ahead, eyes glazed.

"What are you going to do?" he asked after a moment's hesitation. There was no point tiptoeing around the issue.

"I don't know. I can't stay here."

"Miwa…" he tried but Karai stopped him. She rose to standing and grasped his arm almost painfully, forcing him to meet her eyes.

"Don't. Don't you dare. My name is _Karai_."

"But… the picture…" Karai's eyes widened slightly and she gave a short, shocked laugh.

"Even if I except that Splinter is my father, and it's not like I'm completely convinced of that, I'm still Karai," she told him defiantly.

"He's telling the truth, he wouldn't lie about this. You are Miwa."

"Right, so I'm just supposed to give everything up then!" Donnie furrowed his brow, not understanding what she meant. Karai finally released him and turned away with a frustrated sigh. "Don't you get it? I just found out that everything I've taken to be true is a lie. I've spent my whole life certain of who I am. I was the Shredder's daughter, destined to lead the Foot Clan one day. And now? Who am I now? You've taken everything that made me who I am, I won't let you take my name as well!" Donnie felt an overwhelming sense of guilt that he'd managed to make things worse. This whole situation was confusing enough for him, but he was beginning to realise that Karai was barely holding herself together.

"I'm sorry," he told her, "I wasn't trying to steal you identity or anything." The girl almost laughed at that, shooting him a rueful smile.

"Yeah, I know."

"Listen, we need to talk about this. With the others. There's a lot to work out and a lot we don't know and running away from it isn't helping. We can take this slow – nobody wants to push you – but I know Master Splinter at least would really like to talk to you."

"Well I don't want to talk to him," Karai insisted. Donnie started to reply but she interrupted. "And I know you're going to tell me he's my father and I should give him a chance but how do we know he's telling the truth? So he's my father," the word, once a known constant in her life, felt unfamiliar on her tongue but she ploughed through regardless, "What does that change? He could still have killed her, and it's not like he'd admit it."

"That doesn't make sense, Master Splinter would never-"

"I know! Damn it, I'm just… I've spent so long _defining_ myself by my hate for him. How can something that is such an important part of me be pointless? I don't know what would be left if you took that away that hatred."

"You're looking at this wrong. You don't need to hate Splinter to be you. It wasn't something you were born with, it's something you learnt. And you'll learn to let it go."

"What if- What if I don't want to? What if right now, that hatred is the only thing keeping me grounded?" her voice sounded small, that of a child, and she was still turned away from Donatello so he couldn't see her face. Donnie hesitated, conscious that he might just makes things worse, and then he stepped forward to place a hand on her shoulder. She seemed to not acknowledge the contact but Donnie hoped he was able to give her some measure of comfort with it.

"Well that's just not true, is it? You've got me." he said softly. For a moment he thought he'd said the wrong thing. Karai tensed and twisted out of his grip, but before he could try and take it back she'd turned around and threw herself at him, burying her face into his chest. His arms moved round to hug her instinctively and he held her tightly.

"If we try this, I don't know how it will turn out," Karai admitted, "I can't change who I am, who the Shredder raised me to be, and I'm going to have to relearn everything I thought I knew about all of you. There's no guarantee that I'll ever be able to see you as family."

"It's going to be ok," he said soothingly. Karai shook slightly in his grip but she didn't cry, even now managing to stay in control. "I know it must be… scary and confusing right now, but it will get better. I'm not going to leave. You helped me when I needed it most and now I have to help you. Whatever you decide and however this pans out I'm staying right here. We'll make this work. All right?"

Karai thought about her father. He was still in her mind as the Shredder, bearing down on her with a sharp sword and wild eyes and she shuddered with fear and grief. But here, with Donnie, she felt safe. Donnie – not yet family, but definitely a friend and somebody she felt she could rely on. She took a calming breath and extracted herself from his embrace. Now, she felt ready to deal with the revelations of the day. She felt ready to try and make a new future and a new family for herself. She smiled, not taking any notice of the tears in her eyes.

"All right."

**AN: **And that's all folks! This is the last planned chapter of An Unlikely Truce. I know the ending is kind of open ended, but I think this is a good place to leave it. Thank you to all my fans for sticking with me through the large gaps in between updates, sorry about that again! :)


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